


Breaking the mould

by Jessymessy101



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 80s AU, 80s style, American Football, Angst with a Happy Ending, Brat Pack, Bullying, Clint is Tony's best friend, Eventual Romance, High School Drama, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Music, Protective Steve Rogers, Romance, Slash, Steve is a jock, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony is a nerd, coach Howard, eccentric fashion, mention of bullying, pepper is older
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-03-01 20:59:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 27,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13303110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessymessy101/pseuds/Jessymessy101
Summary: Tony has been bullied his whole high school career and for the most part, he had become used to the daily beatings.What will happen when the most popular guy at school and captain of the football team suddenly wants to be his friend?Can Tony just forget the years of misery or is the blue-eyed captain the exception to the rule? that all jocks are bulliesOriginally inspired by this video on youtube by TwiBabe23 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=urSIEK9tMsE





	1. A day in the life of Tony Stark

**Author's Note:**

> After watching a Stony High School AU on youtube I couldn't help myself I had to write this. Some aspects are inspired by the film Pretty in Pink so could be a Pretty in pink AU as well if you squint.

                                                                                  

**(This is my own artwork so please don't steal)**

 

 

 

It was Monday morning and Tony Stark was not looking forward to the day, he had to leave behind the weekend spent tinkering with his robots and taking apart his dads computer and actually face the horror that was High School.

He lay in bed contemplating getting up he began by weighing up the pros and cons of the day. A pro to this day would be that he had double science today with Dr Banner that he always found interesting. However, the biggest con of this day would be to face Obadiah Stane, or Obie as his minions called him.

Tony’s alarm clock went off across the room blasting out the latest chart hits, today he was graced with the techno sound of ‘Safety Dance’ by Men with Hats. This gave Tony an idea for the outfit of the day. Jumping out of bed with new found enthusiasm for the day he flung his wardrobe doors open to reveal a treasure cove of all the colours of the rainbow, every type of fabric and texture you could think of hanging neatly in a cramped row.

Tony took great pride in his appearance and was even more enamoured by his own sense of style. It was the 80s so converse was in at the moment and Tony’s pair of Red High tops had become a particular favourite as he found they went with almost everything in his wardrobe. Today’s outfit of choice consisted of a pair of Khaki shorts, red and grey striped button down shirt that was oversized on his trim frame and a black fitted suit jacket with tartan lining and shawl lapels that donned his many different pins each with their own meaning. Topping off his look with a black pork pie hat that he’d stuck red feathers in shortly after buying.

“Next up we have ‘Sweet child Of mine’” The radio host spoke with his soft drawl as the music started to play. Tony, now dressed for the day, spun on the spot grabbing a tennis racket his dad had bought him for his birthday expecting him to actually use it for its original purpose. Tony turned up the sound on the radio and jumped onto the bed holding the racket the wrong way up simulating a guitar. He closed his eyes and listened to the tune running his fingers over the racket pretending to play along with the band.

“Woah oh oh-oh sweet child of mine!” Tony sang whilst jumping up and down on the bed scrunching up his face straining his voice to match the high-pitched tone of the lead singer. Just as he was getting to the main chorus there was a loud bang that threw him off balance sending him toppling to the bed the racket hitting him in the face as he fell.

“Tony! What have I told you about having your music so loud!” Howard Stark, Tony’s father and High School football coach was at that very moment turning his radio off and ruining his good mood he had managed to build himself up to.

“Dad do you have to do that?” Tony whined from his position on the bed the racket still sat on his face muffling his words.

“When you insist on aggravating the whole house with your rubbish and banging around then yes I do…now get up you’ll be late for school” Howard snapped not giving Tony any time to respond before heading back through the door slamming it behind him causing the radio to knock off the table hitting the floor with a cracking sound.

………………………………………………………….

High School wasn’t exactly easy for Tony, what with all the bullying he received on a daily basis. Sometimes if he was lucky he could get away with hiding in Dr Banner’s science room for the majority of the day avoiding the corridors and the sweaty steroid filled jocks that roamed there. Tony’s plan usually worked for the main bulk of the day like lunch and during free period but on a morning he had to brave the masses of the corridor, it often felt like he was battling his way through the wild plains of Africa with the main goal of avoiding an attack from the lions.

Tony hoisted up his metal contraption so it was sat more comfortably in his arms, the metal frame resembled what could best be described as a giant arm with a claw from one of those fairground prize machines attached to the end to simulate fingers. Tony had designed the robot to help him with his inventions, as he often needed more hands than he had to build some of his odd machines. He had taken this one home for repairs a few days before after one of the other student’s spilt acid over the computer chip, that’ll teach him to leave his work unattended in a science lab. He made his way through the crowds of students each in their own little cliques until he fast approached the one group he really didn’t want to see today.

“Hey, Stark” The voice of one Obadiah Stane emerged from the crowd until he was towering over Tony smirking down at him like a shark who had found its prey. Tony attempted to squeeze around him not daring to look up at the menacing boy, taking one step to the side a gap cleared of students who must have seen this same scenario too many times before as they stepped out of the firing line. Obie came slamming into the side of Tony with all his weight sending Tony flying into the lockers. His robot hit the floor in front of him snapping into two clean pieces and leaving Tony clutching his upper arm where the pain was now shooting through him. Next to him he could hear the cackling laughs of Obadiah and his lemmings, his ears muffled the sound slightly as one ear, in particular, was still ringing from the impact with the metal door of the locker.

“It took me three days to fix this mainframe,” Tony muttered under his breath not loud enough for Obadiah to hear what he’d said but enough so that he knew he’d said something.

“What did you say to me?” Obadiah was pissed off clearly thinking that Tony had said something against him but in reality, it was just another excuse to inflict more pain on the scrunched up form of Tony. Obie pulled Tony’s shirt at the front upwards until Tony was hanging off the ground in front of him his face inches away from Obadiah’s.

“You back chatting me now?” Obadiah spat at Tony who was struggling against the grip trying to get his feet back to the floor to support his weight, pulling frantically at the fist around his shirt.

“I didn’t say anything I swear,” He pleaded, even he knew his voice sounded so pathetic right now but he really didn’t care he had put up with enough from these jocks what’s one more morning of pain and misery.

“That’s what I thought” Obadiah smirked again this time there was something behind his eyes that Tony was all too familiar with, that was the look he got just before a hard blow from a fist came ploughing into his body from one angle or another.

The guys around Obadiah took it in turns to land a punch somewhere on Tony’s torso each hit sending his body sideways as he continued to flail his legs around to reach the floor. Obadiah just stood there his firm grip keeping Tony is one place so his friends could take their hits, laughing hysterically.

When his friends had got their turn he finally placed Tony back on the floor but kept his grip on his shirt, which at this point was the only thing keeping Tony from collapsing into a battered heap on the floor. Obie took one last hit for good measure before letting go allowing Tony to finally slide down the lockers until he was sat on the floor, the broken robot still laying in two pieces beside him.

Just to rub salt in the wound, Obadiah kicked the head of the robot as he passed snapping it into another two pieces and sending the claw flying across the corridor. The bell blared out down the corridor signalling the start of class, before long he was sitting alone on the cold floor with his pride bruised and his invention destroyed. He slammed his head into the locker in frustration he was angry and struggling to keep the tears from falling.

“Don’t you dare cry! Stark’s don’t cry!” Tony recited what had become one of his dad’s favourite sayings over and over pushing the anger down into his stomach and holding back the tears long enough for him to gather up what was left of his machine and rush off to the boy’s toilets.

Tony went to the toilets closest to the science department because he knew no one ever really went in there especially not at this time so he could get some privacy to let out his emotions. As soon as the door closed behind him he threw the now scraps of metal against the cubical door and burst into tears. He screamed out just noise anything to help subside the aching pain in his stomach. He was breathing heavily trying to calm himself down, deciding that his best option was to hide in the shower block until he could face the world again.

This was a regular occurrence for Tony and one he had unfortunately become accustomed to over the years. As a senior in High School he had gone through his whole High School career being ridiculed for being different, he didn’t help his case by dressing in the eccentric fashion that he did but he also didn’t want to follow the crowds and get lost in the sea of indistinguishable personalities. He vowed to always be his own person that was what his mother had always told him to do.

When Tony was five he had gone to his mother and told her that he wanted to be an inventor and that when he had told the other kids at school they all laughed at him saying he couldn’t be an inventor because he wasn’t smart enough.

_“Tony, you can be whatever you want to be, don’t ever forget that…and as for being an inventor if you have a new idea in your head then you are already an inventor!”_

Tony could hear his mother’s voice in that bathroom on the wet shower block floor telling him he could be whatever he wanted to be and for a moment it comforted him, having the feeling that someone believed in his dreams. He wrapped his arms around his body pulling his knees up to his chest trying in vain to feel her warm embrace the way she used to hug him after school when the kids had been particularly cruel to him. She was always going to protect him from bullies. It was exactly a year later that she died suddenly on a business trip up north her car skidded on the ice and came off the road, Tony was only six but he remembers the day like it was yesterday.

Life hadn’t been the same after she died, particular with his father. Howard Stark had loved his wife and being left a widow with an imaginative six year old to raise, it had taken its toll on the man. He became angrier as the days grew to years and their relationship became almost none existent to point where they were no longer father and son but just two people that shared a house.

Tony’s sobs had slowed to a steady breathing, occasionally his breath would catch as a singular sob escaped his lips. The tears had all but stopped but the evidence of their existence sat in wet paths down his face for all to see. He had been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t heard anyone come into the toilet until a voice appeared beside him.

“Hey, are you alright?” The voice was soft, comforting and Tony felt his heart lift at the stranger’s presence. He would admit to the world that he wanted to be alone but in actual fact, he was craving the company.

Looking up he locked eyes with the pearly blues of Steve Rogers the captain of the football team. Tony jumped up from the floor wiping frantically at his eyes trying to hide his weaknesses.

Steve Rogers, although the captain of the football team, had never bullied him directly, however, he hung about in the same circles as Obadiah, which at this point was all Tony could focus on.

“I’m fine, what are you doing in here…no one ever comes in here” Tony pushed away from the wall and began frantically collecting up the broken robot turning his back to Steve.

“You don’t look fine?” Steve pressed hesitating before helping Tony with the remaining pieces of the machine.

“Well I am and I don’t need help from someone like you” Tony snapped, he hadn’t wanted to sound so harsh but he was feeling fed up and worn out he couldn’t take another beating today, emotional or physical.

“Someone like me? You don’t even know me?” Steve sounded insulted but Tony didn’t care he didn’t owe someone that associated with Obadiah any form of courtesy.

“I know enough about you to know you hang around with Obadiah Stane and for that reason alone you’re trouble and I should stay away from you…so thank you for the concern but I don’t need it” Tony liked the way he sounded, he felt superior for a moment like he could stand on his own two feet and hold his own.

Tony nodded a small thanks to Steve and rushed out the bathroom with the intention of fixing his robot, at least he could try and salvage the shred of goodness for the day.

“You’re welcome” Steve muttered into the space as he watched Tony leave slightly stunned by how he had spoken to him.


	2. Captain Steve Rogers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are liking this story then make sure to check out the video on youtube that I took the inspiration from  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urSIEK9tMsE&list=RDMMurSIEK9tMsE 
> 
> I've honestly had this video on a loop for days now I am completely in love with this story.

Tony entered the classroom to a sea of faces all turning to look at the new arrival, this was just what he needed after the morning he’d had everyone looking at him. Obadiah was the first to snigger and elbowed one of his friends next to him whilst pointing at the mangled mess of metal and circuit boards. 

“Tony, good of you to join us” Dr Bruce Banner was standing at the front of the class in his signature lab coat. He had been going through the marked papers before the interruption. Banner was Tony’s favourite teacher because not only did he help him with his inventions, he was sympathetic to Tony’s situation at school and allowed him to join him whenever he needed a place to go. Tony took a step into the room and some of the circuitry fell to the floor only fuelling the laughs from Obadiah. Banner shot him a look from across the room ultimately silencing the boy, “Take a seat Tony” Banner gave him a sympathetic smile watching the young inventor take his seat at the front of the class. 

There was no set-seating plan for the room but Tony had chosen this seat during his freshman year and hadn’t moved in those four years, it was close enough to Banner so that he could keep an eye on him and for Tony to focus on the class. It also allowed for enough space between him and Obadiah as possible, not that it stopped Obadiah from sending things flying across the room towards his head. As if on queue the first wave of paper bounced off the back of his head. Tony didn’t react he set his jaw and focused on what Banner was saying at the front. 

Another hit this time the tip of the plastic pen hit him first causing Tony to flinch away in pain but trying to hold back showing any form of reaction. This didn’t go unnoticed by Banner who was in the process of handing back papers to the other students. 

“Mr Stane? Is there a problem over there” Banner set him with a stern glare, Banner wasn’t exactly a scary teacher by any stretch of the imagination but Obadiah would never cross him not after Banner made a fool of him in one of their first classes. Obadiah had tried showing off during an experiment pushing Banner out of the way despite being warned to keep clear after the first chemical went into the tube and ended up burning his eyebrows off, it’s safe to say after that ‘told you so’ moment he listened to everything Banner told him to do. 

“No problem here sir” Obie elbowed his friend under the table who was sniggering. 

“Seems like your friend there has something he wishes to say?” Banner pointed to the boy sitting next to Obadiah who suddenly froze at being caught out. 

“Sorry sir, I’m just…excited I guess with the upcoming semi-finals” He had to hand it to the boy's quick response but he didn’t care for football and certainly didn’t need it filtering into his classroom. 

“GO AVENGERS” Obadiah’s friends all chanted out causing a ruckus banging their hands on the table and chanting the school’s team name. 

“Enough!” Banner slammed his own hand onto the desk in front of Obadiah silencing the whole room and leaving a few stunned faces, he looked over his shoulder at Tony who was unresponsive to the events going on behind him, all eyes in the room were not on Banner as he began to raise his voice. “I understand the whole ‘team spirit’ thing” Banner emphasised with air quotes and a slight hint of mocking to his tone, “But I will not tolerate behaviour like that in my classroom do you all understand?” A few quiet nods came from the jocks in the corner who were all looking well and truly scolded hanging their heads in shame. 

“Mr Stark, to the front please and bring your robot, as for the rest of you, as you can see I have returned your…how can I put this nicely…poorly written papers. I need you to re-do them…In silence” There was an audible groan from the majority of the room but Banner took no notice and turned his attention to the front of the room where Tony was now stood sheepishly waiting for his mentor to join him. 

The silence in the room was short lived when the door to the classroom opened and in walked Steve Rogers. Tony’s eyes were instantly drawn to those big blue eyes that he’d faced that morning and he couldn’t help but stare. 

“Mr Rogers, care to explain where you’ve been?” Banner asked breaking Tony from his daze.

“Sorry I’m so late sir, I was in the bathroom and I found this I figured it was important” Steve handed over a piece of circuit board to Dr Banner who turned to Tony with a smirk on his face. 

“Well, Tony?” Banner held it out to Tony who was lost in staring at Steve, who was beginning to shift uncomfortably under the boy's gaze. 

“Oh, sorry, yes it’s very important actually, thank you” Tony directed his thanks towards Steve, his stomach was doing summersaults but he wasn’t sure if that was just because of where he had been beaten up. 

“It’s too late to start doing any actual work now so would you like to help us?” Banner suggested looking between the two boys who were both clearly very awkward with suddenly being thrown together and forced to work on Tony’s pride and joy. 

“That’s fine with me sir, just as long as it’s okay with Tony?” Steve pointed his attention at Tony and fixed him with those big blues. 

“You can help” Tony’s voice was shaky almost childlike as he began tinkering with the piece of the arm he’d been working on before Steve came in. 

Steve wouldn’t admit this but he had been waiting outside the whole time watching as Obadiah threw things at him and tormented him with his sniggers. He had chosen to stay outside when Banner began raising his voice because he didn’t want to get on the wrong side of that mood. However, his eyes weren’t interested in the football gang, his attention was well and truly aimed at Tony and how innocent he looked holding the robot at the front of the room. Steve couldn’t help but think he looked very much like a child carrying his broken toy to his parents whilst holding back the tears, it was this that had drawn Steve’s attention to the strange boy in his class and it was why his stomach was now tying itself into knots standing so close to him. But of course, he would never admit any of that out loud. 

………………………….

The end of the day couldn’t come soon enough for Tony as he raced through the corridors just before the bell went trying to escape the inevitable hell he would endure if he hung about much longer. As he came through the main doors into the parking lot he scanned the area looking for his beloved Chevy convertible that he had spent an entire summer saving up to buy after his dad refused to keep drive him to school. The Chevy was the first thing that Tony had bought himself and it was also the first time he had something for himself that his dad couldn’t take away from him when he wanted to punish him. 

He spotted the car sitting under the tree he had parked it under that morning, although when he approached something didn’t seem right. Tony had a bad feeling made worse by the note attached to the windscreen. 

_See you on the bus_

Tony shivered as he read the note, he could tell instantly who the culprit was, by the terrible handwriting that he was all too familiar with from all the previous occasions Obadiah did something like this. When it came to his car it was rare for them to go anywhere near it but apparently, he’d pissed him off considerably more today because he’d upped his game. Tony lifted the hood and noticed right off the bat the note stuck to the radiator. 

_Nothing wrong? Funny that…check your keys_

Tony went through his pockets and dumped out the contents of his bag but no keys appeared. 

“Damn it!” Tony screamed gritting his teeth kicking the front wheel of the car in anger. He really didn’t want to have to get the bus because he knew Obie would be waiting for him that was his plan after all. His only other option was to go to his dad and he really didn’t want to do that, but the idea of getting another beating was enough to take the plunge. The loud roars coming from the football field nearby told him where he would be, where he always was at the end of the day…practice. 

……………………………………..

“Rogers hit the bench, Stane get out there” Howard was barking orders at the players, most of the guys were out on the field practising their throws of which Steve was struggling with today. As he passed Obie running onto the field he felt a hard slap on his back and the touch made him feel physically sick, he had seen what Obadiah did to Tony that day and he was seeing his fellow player in a different light. 

“What’s going on with you today?” Howard shouted, the spit flying from his mouth as he did causing Steve to take a step back. 

“I’m sorry coach I guess I’m just tired” Steve lied he hadn’t wanted to come to practice today, he wanted to head bump into Tony after class but had been swept up by the team before he could escape. 

“Well sort yourself out, I have no time on this field for time wasters” Howard barked at him turning his attention back to the field giving Steve the chance to slip away to the bench. 

His mind was elsewhere today and he was struggling to focus on anything other than Tony Stark, it didn’t help that the object of his obsession was heading towards them.

“Dad?” Steve watched as Tony timidly approached the coach who was too engrossed in one of the players racing down the field to pay attention to his son beside him. Tony glanced over at Steve for a moment and his eyes dropped when they awkwardly made contact much like they had done in Dr Banner’s classroom earlier that day. Steve offered a warm smile and a small wave but was, for the most part, ignored only gaining a half smile from Tony before he turned his attention back to his dad. 

“What do you want Tony?” Howard already sounded fed up, as he sighed not even bothering to look at his son. 

“I need a ride,” Tony said his voice low as he didn’t want to upset his dad. 

“What’s wrong with your car?” 

“It won’t start,” Tony said, it wasn’t exactly a lie, it wouldn’t start mostly because the keys weren’t in it but he didn’t need to know that.

“Well get the bus then cant you see I’m busy?” Howard snapped looking over finally at his son. 

“I can’t get the bus” this drew Howard’s attention fully onto Tony and he could see the rage begin to build behind his eyes. Taking a step away Tony held up his hands in a defensive stance preparing himself for the onslaught on insults about the come flying his way. 

“Let me guess, some kid stole your lunch money…geez, Tony, you aren’t twelve anymore you need to start standing up for yourself otherwise people are going to walk all over you” Howard wasn’t shouting but Tony noted disappointment in his voice, something he was used to hearing when it came to his father. 

“Wow, dad tell me what you really think” Tony joked, it was his coping mechanism when it came to confrontation with his dad to use jokes as a way out of the situation and to stop himself crying before he could get away. 

“Backchatting are we now, get out of here I have work to do” Howard shoved Tony away causing him to slip on the wet grass, Tony didn’t waste time in scrambling to his feet and running off towards the bleachers.

Steve had watched the whole thing from the bench and couldn’t believe what he was seeing when coach laid his hands on Tony. Was that a regular thing he thought getting up from the bench trying to see where Tony had run off. 

“What you gawking at Rogers?” Obadiah had appeared just after Tony disappeared around the corner, Steve was comforted by the thought that Obie hadn’t seen him because otherwise, his day would have only gotten worse. 

“Tony was just…” without thinking Steve let slip that Tony had been there, luckily for Tony he had a head start and Obadiah was currently pre-occupied with practice. Besides Obie was more of a, see you beat you, kind of a bully as long as you were in his line of site you were an easy target. 

“Ha! Trying to get a ride of daddy was he?” Obie laughed splashing a bottle of water on his face letting it drip down his uniform. 

“What did you do?” Something went off in Steve’s mind like a light bulb over his head, squaring up to Obie, although Steve was slightly smaller in height he could easily beat him based on his speed and weight alone. 

“Took his keys didn’t I” Obie laughed trying to jibe Steve along with him but getting no reaction from his captain he gave up. 

“Where are they” Steve’s voice was warning him off without actually having to resort to his fists but if it came to that Steve wasn’t afraid to get dirty. 

“All right, they’re in my bag…it was only a joke cap” Obie gave Steve a manly punch to the arm trying to calm Steve down. Steve ignored him turning his back to him and began rooting through his bag until he found the set of keys, he could tell instantly they were Tony’s as they had a whole mass of key rings all jangling around a single car key very like Tony Steve thought. 

Steve darted off in the direction Tony had gone in the hopes of catching up to him, ignoring the shouts of protest coming from Obadiah and the coach calling him back to practice. Steve hadn’t gotten far when he heard a faint sound coming from nearby, he had worked his way past the bleachers ducking underneath in the hopes he would find Tony hiding underneath. He soon found himself up at the top of the stands on the far side of the field far enough away from his teammates so he could relax a bit, although something in him wasn’t letting him relax fully until he found Tony. The sound grew louder as he made his way into one of the viewing boxes reserved for heads of faculty and visiting college reps. The sound had become clearer as he approached the end box suddenly realising that the sound was actually someone crying, Steve hesitantly took the door handle in his hand and twisted it open trying not to startle whoever was inside. 

The room was dark and all Steve could see were the outlines of the seats across the room, as he took a step further in his hand reached for the wall looking for a source of light. The sobbing had stopped when he entered the room, probably whoever it was that was crying was trying to stay hidden. Steve’s eye caught movement under a desk off to the left-hand side of the room, the last streams of sunlight from the windows was illuminating enough of the room that Steve was able to make out the shape of a person in what looked like a pork pie hat. 

“Tony?” Steve stepped closer trying still not to startle him. 

“Go away Steve” the voice under the table was definitely Tony’s and he was certainly crying. 

“Come on out of there, Tony, please” Steve held his hand out into the darkness in the hopes it would encourage Tony to come out. 

“You’ll only laugh at me,” Tony muttered pulling his knees closer to his chest. 

“No…no I won't laugh at you, I just want to give you these back” Steve realised that his voice started off quite sharp and quickly softened it, holding out the keys for Tony to see that he wasn’t playing a trick on him. 

“You took them?” Tony shuffled out from under the table and was almost immediately face to face with Steve grabbing for the keys.

“No, it was Obie actually I just got them back for you that’s all” Steve was trying to sound modest because last time he tried to be nice to Tony he had bitten his head off. 

“Why are you so interested in me all of a sudden?” Tony asked. “I mean it’s not like you’ve ever noticed I even exist on this earth and all of a sudden you want to help me” Tony was right to be sceptical, he’d learnt not to trust people and especially people that spent their days with the person that made his life a living hell. 

“I’ve seen what Obadiah does to you and I just…” Steve didn’t know what he wanted, hell he was so confused by his feelings towards Tony that he didn’t even know that answer to that question yet. 

“You see what he does and you thought what? That we could be friends? Ridiculous, you know if you really wanted to help me you’d tell him to back off” Tony snapped feeling the anger towards Obadiah building inside him and slowly taking it out on the only other jock in the room. 

“So could you?” Steve suggested earning him daggers from Tony. 

“You think I haven’t tried, this is what happens when I try and stand up for myself” Tony pulled up the hem of his shirt to reveal the already dark bruises forming on his torso, he was covered in them. “And that’s not just from Obadiah Stane” Tony muttered hanging his head low as he ran his fingers across his shirt. 

“You mean your dad? I saw what he did down there” Steve pointed behind him at the field but kept his sympathetic eyes on Tony. 

“Yeah well it was lucky you guys were there otherwise it would have been a hell of a lot worse” Tony scoffed rolling his eyes as his mind seemed to wander to darker memories. 

“I’m sorry” Steve began but was quickly cut off. 

“Yeah, well don’t because there’s nothing anyone can do about it and besides I’ll be going off to college next year and I’ll be away from all this crap” Tony fiddled with the keys in his hand suddenly feeling very exposed and uncomfortable. “Thank you for the keys, I should get out of here” Tony went to leave but Steve caught his arm as he passed pulling him to a stop. 

“What do you want from me, Steve? We can’t be friends! Don’t you see that?” Tony was getting frustrated his voice raised, he pulled himself free from Steve’s grasp and ran off not giving Steve the chance to react. 

……………………………………………………

It didn’t take long for Tony to drive to the beach, he had probably run a couple of red lights but he really didn’t care because all he wanted was to get as far away from school, from Obadiah, from his dad and Steve bloody Rogers as he could. He pulled into the parking lot at the beach shutting off the engine and took a moment to breathe in the sea air to calm down. The sun was getting low in the sky and was halfway over the horizon making him just in time for his favourite part of the day. 

Tony took the wooden decked path down to the beach and began the trek towards his favourite spot. There were only a few other people on the beach at this time, couples taking a sunset walk, a couple of surfers taking advantage of the last few daylight breaks and a family with two small children chasing a soaking wet Labrador down the beach. 

Tony reached the rocks and began to climb until he was perched on a flat rock face at the top, he loved sitting up here because it was far enough away from the beach where people couldn’t interfere with his thoughts and it was sheltered from all angles by the way the wind had carved through the rocks over time. 

He looked out over the water watching the surfers jump and twist over the waves and disappear beneath the murky blue sea. The sun was so low now that it was casting a dark orange glow over the land giving the sea a darkened blue colouring. This was his favourite time of day, it was the point of the day where he could put the events of school behind him and the world could reset itself ready to start again tomorrow. This was honestly his only way of clearing it all out getting rid of the negativity and the pain and letting the sun reset his world. 

“Maybe tomorrow” He whispered across the crashing waves letting the words travel towards the sun like making a wish on a giant star. He’s done the same thing every day since he was eleven, it was the only way he had managed to cope for so long with the hell that was his life if it weren’t for this little ritual every day he would have gone insane years ago. 

The breeze began to pick up as the Sun made its final decent beneath the horizon, Tony grabbed the sides of his oversized long coat he’d found in the trunk of his car and wrapped it around his body keeping in the warmth. His arms wrapped around his knees to protect himself from the world, he tucked his head into the space where the coat covered his legs hiding his face from everything, this is where he let the tears fall allowing himself the quiet moment to let go all of those emotions he’d been keeping in all day. Obadiah, his robot, the keys to his car and his damn father, he just let everything fade away. 

He sat like that crying on the rocks until the darkness of the night sky loomed overhead. Getting up he stretched his legs giving the horizon a salute as a thank you and set off back to the car.


	3. Fashion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter cause I can't stop writing!

Steve hovered around the front of school pacing back and forth, accidentally bumping into a few people as he went because he wasn’t all that focused on where he was going. He checked his watch for what felt like the millionth time that morning, he groaned when the time hadn’t moved forward enough for him choosing to bite his fingernails to try and channel some of his anxiety.

 

“Hey Steve, who you waiting for?” a group of girls appeared beside him and the head of the little gang, a small five-foot blonde hair beauty, spoke drawing him from his task. The girls were dressed in cheerleaders’ outfits and were all whispering and giggling amongst themselves.

 

“Just…a friend” he replied smiling at that sweet blue-eyed charming smile he gave to the world that seemed to make him so popular, especially with the girls, not that they interested him.

 

“Well, don’t be long” The blonde girl giggled flashing him her best toothy grin before they moved off in a huddle of snickering and whispers.

 

Steve turned his attention back to his task, checking his watch just as the bell sounded off from behind him. He looked over his shoulder at the school suddenly feeling the urgency of getting to class but the pull to keep him from going anywhere still hadn’t arrived yet.

 

There was a low rumble coming down the street drowning out the sound of the bell. Steve arched his head to look down the road and saw the familiar sight of Tony’s Chevy convertible pulling into a side space. Jumping down the steps he decided to lean against the wall at the bottom to act as casual as possible, he didn’t want Tony knowing he’d been stood there all morning waiting for him.

 

Tony hadn’t even noticed Steve by the time he reached the steps so when he spoke to him he was startled to the point of nearly tripping over the steps.

 

“Morning Tony” Steve internally cringed at how unnatural he sounded. Way to play it cool Rogers he thought.

 

“Steve? You nearly gave me a heart attack, what are you doing here?” Tony grabbed his chest covering the slightly ripped pocket of a new outlandish fashion choice.

 

“I saw you pull up and figured we have the same class together this morning and maybe we could walk there together” Steve sounded nervous and this didn’t go unnoticed by Tony who chose not to point it out but accept the company despite still being unsure about the whole ‘friendly’ thing Steve seemed to be doing.

 

“If you want, thanks” Tony didn’t really know what he was thanking him for but a part of him welcomed the company.

 

“I wanted to say sorry again about yesterday,” Steve said as they climbed the stairs and walked through the now empty corridor.

 

“Why are you sorry it’s not like you beat me up” Tony was warming to the idea that perhaps Steve wasn’t as bad as the rest of them, but he was still one of them in his eyes.

 

“No but…what I’m trying to say is you were right, I should do more to stop them, they’re my friends after all” Steve laughed at the idea that he could be friends with such people, but once upon a time he was friends with them it was only recently that things had started to change and he was realising their true colours.

 

“So that’s what you’re doing, are you to be my personal body now?” Tony mocked as he clicked the pieces into place.

 

“What? No! Is it so hard for you to believe that I might actually want to be friends with you” Steve became quite defensive as he tried to make Tony believe his reasoning.

 

“You and me?” Tony raised his eyebrows at the other boy before bursting into laughter.

  
“What’s so funny, hey” Steve pulled Tony to a halt outside a random classroom.

 

“Nothing, it’s just funny don’t you think?” When Tony didn’t receive a response only a blank expression from Steve who looked like he was trying to work out a math equation. “You’re kidding, right? I mean look at us we aren’t exactly…what’s the word…compatible” Tony gestured to the outfit Steve was wearing, a plain blue button-up shirt with a pair of khaki trousers and a light brown cardigan.

 

“Compatible?” Steve self-consciously tugged the cardigan around his body wrapping his arms protectively around him. “Stop looking at me like that.”

 

“Sorry, but come on I mean look at you, what are you even wearing?” Tony pulled at the sleeve of his cardigan but kept a smirk on his face so that Steve knew he was only teasing.

 

“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” Steve was defensive but there was a hint of playfulness in his voice.

 

“Nothing, I mean it's very…Preppy” Tony scrunched his nose up at the word, he prided himself on being unique and standing out with his fashion and despite what he was telling Steve he did like what he was wearing, he just would never wear it himself.

 

“Says the guy wearing a headache for a shirt, what even is that?” Steve pointed at the general area of Tony’s shirt pulling the loose piece of fabric where the pocket was coming away. The shirt itself was a geometrically shaped mass of bright colours, blue squares overlapping green on a white background with red and yellow paintbrush style lines crossing over the top.

 

“This is one of my best shirts,” Tony protested pulling at the hem to show off the full scale of craziness.

 

“The pockets’ coming off” Steve commented pulling at the fabric till he heard it tear a bit more. Tony slapped his hand away and began trying to reattach the fraying piece.

 

“Great, thank you for that” Tony was annoyed but there was still a playful smile on his face and he couldn’t help but look into Steve’s eyes as they fell into a comfortable silence.

 

“We should really get to class” Steve suddenly realised looking down at his watch, he pulled Tony’s sleeve dragging him off down the corridor toward the classroom.

 

“Hey slow down! You’re going to pull my arm off” They skidded to a halt outside the science classroom, Tony took the initiative and went for the door but Steve placed his hand over his chest to stop him going in.

 

“Wait, one more thing…I know you don’t really like football…or jocks…but would you maybe like to come to the game today? It’s the semi-finals and it would mean a lot if you came” Steve was studying his shoes carefully scraping the toe across a scuff mark on the floor which seemed far more interesting to him right now than seeing Tony’s reaction to his offer.

 

“Sure” Steve shot his eyes up to meet Tony’s and couldn’t help the massive grin that plastered his face. Tony was smiling back warmly something behind his eyes gave Steve hope that maybe they could be friends after all.

 

 

**A/N: Just some fashion prompts to help understand Tony's individual style**

****

Tony's crazy shirt                        Inspiration for Steve's style           


	4. Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of Steve backstory

“It’s half time here at Los Angeles Community High School where our teams are currently neck and neck in this semi-final showdown” The commentator’s voice rang out over the loud speakers barely audible over the chants from the cheer squads and the roars of the crowd as the two teams came back to the benches.

 

Steve was dripping with sweat when he removed his helmet to splash some water on his face. His adrenaline was high and his heart racing, football was his one true passion in life and it always made him feel so alive. Glancing down the bench and up towards the crowd he couldn’t help but soak in the atmosphere, it really was an event that was taken seriously by everyone involved, from the coaches and the team captains right down to the guy selling hot dogs in the stands, everyone was integral to the sport.

 

“You’re doing well out there Rogers keep it up!” Coach Stark was clearly buzzed on the same thing that everyone else around them was. Howard was jumping on his toes feeling the excitement as he tried to keep the hype up.

 

“Thanks, coach” Steve muttered suddenly feeling less up for celebrating when faced with a compliment from the coach. After what he’d seen him do to Tony, Howard Stark held a less than respectable position in his opinion.

 

“Cheer up Rogers all we need in the next half is for you to give us your all!” Howard slapped his shoulder getting in close to his face gritting his teeth with the excitement and the adrenaline of the event.

 

“Sure” Steve brushed away the coaches hands getting up from the bench and making his way towards the bleachers. He’d had enough of the constant doting on his ability, he knew he was good at the sport but that’s also why he loved the game. When Steve was a kid he used to play in the backyard with his best friend Bucky, they used to joke about how good Steve was in comparison. One day Bucky made Steve promise that he’d play professionally one day, being young and naive Steve had agreed to the promise not thinking much of it. The promise stuck one day when Bucky got into an accident, they were playing out in the street when a car had come ploughing down the road towards them. Steve had managed to duck out of the way of the out of control car but it swerved at the last minute catching Bucky on his side spinning him around and sending him flying down the street.

 

“Steve!” The voice of one Bucky Barnes travelled down through the crowd, looking up Steve spotted his friend working his way down the bleachers onto the edge of the field.

 

“Bucky! You’re not supposed to be down here” Steve chuckled at the sight of his friend breaking the number one rule of no one on the field who isn’t part of the team.

 

“Who cares I wanted to see the star player” Bucky punched Steve playfully in the arm slightly mocking the jock way of showing friendship.

 

Steve couldn’t help but smile at his best friend. Subconsciously he glanced down at the space where Bucky’s left arm used to be.

 

“Will you stop that!” Bucky half laughed as he followed Steve’s gaze down.

 

“Sorry Bucky,” Steve muttered looking anywhere but at Bucky.

 

“You do this every time there’s an important game, it’s not your fault you know” Bucky was being serious, something Steve wasn’t used to with his usually upbeat friend. However, when it came to the topic of Bucky’s accident they couldn’t help but feel the importance of that promise made long ago and in a way it helped fuel Steve’s determination to win and kept his love for the sport alive. Steve smiled at his friend before feeling the awkwardness between them and diverting his gaze once more. Before long his eyes settled on someone hovering near the edge of the bleachers.

 

“Tony?” Steve was surprised to see Tony, he hadn’t thought he would actually come but the beam on his face was hard to miss.

 

“Tony?” Bucky mimicked following his line of sight. “What’s Tony Stark doing here, I thought he hated football?” Bucky commented causing a confused look from Steve. “You know, because of his dad?” Bucky explained looking equally as confused.

 

“Oh right yeah…” Steve hung his head as the memory of Howard Stark shoving his son to the ground came flashing through his mind.

 

“He never was the sporty kind, despite having a coach for a dad” Bucky was talking away beside Steve who had well and truly lost all focus as he turned his attention back to Tony, who hadn’t even spotted him yet. Tony was climbing up the bleachers straining his head over the crowds clearly looking for someone.

 

“Tony!” Without thought Steve found himself calling out to Tony whose head shot round, Tony’s face lit up when he saw his new friend standing on the field, giving a little wave down to Steve.

 

“What’s all that about?” Bucky had watched the little exchange and was now the one with confusion on his face.

 

“Nothing?” Steve replied to a very unconvinced Bucky.

 

“Yeah, like hell there’s nothing going on I just saw the way you two looked at each other!” Bucky wasn’t angry but there was irritation in his voice and his accusing finger pointed at Steve’s chest.

 

“Bucky will you calm down, we’re just friends okay!” Steve pushed Bucky’s hand away getting more worked up by the second.

 

“Look Steve, the only reason you’re the most popular kid in school right now is because of that right there” Bucky pointed out to the field indicating the sport. “And the fact you…well you know…” Bucky paused suddenly blushing and rubbing his neck awkwardly.

 

“What Bucky? Spit it out” Steve had to laugh at his friend who was almost the colour of a strawberry by this point.

 

“You got hot, man!” Bucky groaned annoyed at his own ridiculousness at having to call his best friend hot. Steve burst out laughing which only enraged Bucky more.

 

“Yeah, laugh it up, but in all seriousness Steve, you do remember what it used to be like? I don’t want to see you go back there, which is why you have to call it quits on Tony Stark it’s only going to cause you more trouble than its worth” Bucky was referring to their time at middle school before Steve grew into himself and before he became star football player. Steve hadn’t had it easy growing up, always being the skinny kid so no one ever let him join in when they played football. He got bullied a lot for his size and Bucky was the only person to ever show him any shred of decency. Steve was annoyed by Bucky’s words but a part of him understood why he was worried, Steve glanced over at the benches where Obadiah was busy showing off to a group of cheerleaders and the coach was shouting down a couple of the less talented players on the team.

 

“You’re right, doesn’t mean I like it though,” Steve warned pointing his finger at Bucky this time. Before Bucky could even answer the whistle blew signalling the start of the next half.

 

“Better get back to it, hot shot” Bucky smiled warmly at Steve who nodded thanks before heading back out onto the field.

 

Little did either of the men know but someone had been listening closely to their conversation, Tony ducked back under the bleachers the tears stinging his eyes as they threatened to fall. He knew it was too good to be true, that someone like Steve Rogers would actually want to know him and he was right all along not to trust him. Tony wiped his sleeve over his eyes the rough fabric of his jacket burning his eyes. The whistle blew once more and the game was off again, Tony decided he didn’t want to stick around much longer and it’s not as if anyone would miss his presence so he quietly slipped away through the back of the stands and out into the parking lot.

 

Back on the field, Steve was unfocused, his mind wandered for a moment back to Bucky, back to Tony. Bucky was right in a warped kind of way but a part of him couldn’t stay away from the intriguing eccentric inventor, looking up at the bleachers where Tony had been a few minutes before he was disappointed to discover him missing.

 

“Rogers! Stay focused!” Coach Stark shouted through cupped hands at his player the anger evident in his voice and snapping Steve back into the game.


	5. Records

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of Dancing, I used three songs in this chapter: 
> 
> in order:   
> 1\. Don't worry baby~ The Beach Boys  
> 2\. Twist and shout~ The Beatles   
> 3\. Cyndi Lauper~ Good Enough

The bell jingled as he came through the door signalling to the girl behind the desk that she had a customer or in her case a rather energetic Tony who came sliding through the door skidding to a halt just past the desk.

 

“Put it on!” Tony spoke with a cool confidence directing his demand at the ginger-haired young woman who was sitting on a high stool behind the counter, her face buried in a gossip magazine.

 

“No!” She didn’t hesitate or look up from her task whilst she popped a bubble in her gum and turned the page with a flick of her wrist.

 

“Do it!” Tony demanded dabbing his brow dramatically and with some inpatients.

 

“Not happening” She was so engrossed in her magazine and intent on ignoring Tony’s demands that she didn’t notice her friend bound over the counter in a leap using one hand to propel himself over. “Tony don’t you dare!” As soon as he landed on his feet snatching the magazine from her hands he turned his attention to the record player sitting behind her.

 

“It’s happening” Tony smirked grabbing the record with one hand and pushing away the intruder with the other.

 

“You put that track on and so help me god Tony Stark I’ll…” She was cut off before she could finish her threat by the subtle drumbeat of the song.

 

Tony began dancing moving his arms back and forth by his sides, his hands held in fists as he bobbed his head and feet along to the music. He moved around the desk in a slowed bouncy dance as the harmonies kicked in.

 

_“Well its been building up inside of me_ _for oh I don't know how long, I don't know why but I keep thinking Something's bound to go wrong”_ Tony wasn’t really singing just mouthing along with the words but he was acting like he was the only person to have ever sung this song as he serenaded the girl at the counter.

 

_“But she looks in my eyes and makes me realise, then she says don’t worry baby don’t worry baby, everything will turn out all right don’t worry baby”_ Tony was leaning over the desk screwing up his eyes trying to reach the pretend high notes he was fake singing. Tony’s friend just shook her head at how ridiculous he was being right now.

 

The song carried on into the next verse but by this point, Tony had given up with the singing and chose to start slow motion swaying around the room, he was pretending to dance a slow dance but with no partner, he looked a little odd. He was circling up and down the first aisle with his eyes closed for emphasis, which meant he bumped into a man standing over a record box who seemed less than impressed by the intrusion to his day.

 

The instrumental in the middle of the song began strumming a rhythmic beat that Tony suddenly got very excited about jumping up onto a raised table at the back of the store. His feet began to tap on the table in a slowed down tap dance his hands tapping the air like he was playing the piano along with the song, the beat took him into a spin on the table and into a quick step off the end, back to the shop floor.

 

Immediately jumping back into his slow dance spinning as the song began to slow to the end he took one quick spin and went back to an exaggerated bob back to the counter his eyes closed as he felt the music and mouthed the last few lines of ‘Don’t worry baby’ at his friend.

 

“You’re a fool Tony Stark” The girl finally spoke as Tony jumped up on the countertop and spun around so his feet were dangling over the edge.

 

“But you love me” His cheeky grin was enough to sway anyone out of a bad mood.

 

“I do love you, now get off my counter” she shoved him playfully causing him to make an overstated fall over the back landing on his head on the other side.

 

“Are you being bad Pepper, today?” Tony sprang back up with all the energy of a puppy that had tripped over its own feet.

 

“Are you being bad taste in music Tony, today?” Pepper smirked at him holding up the record he’d just played and made a slight fool of himself over.

 

“What! I like the Beach Boys!” Tony exclaimed grabbing the record from Pepper and dusting it off putting it to one side for safe keeping.

 

“How about some…” she stretched it out as she placed another record into the player and propped the needle into place.

 

Twist and Shout began blasting through the shop and Tony instantly jumped into a new dance routine with Pepper following close behind. They moved back and forth down parallel aisles in the store doing their own mad improve dance moves that mostly consisted of Tony flailing his arms in the air and tap dancing across the floor. Meanwhile, Pepper was jumping madly sending her ginger hair flicking back and forth as she shook her head for emphasis.

 

“What are you two doing in here?” Neither of them had noticed the bell over the door ring out as someone appeared at the entrance of the shop. Clint, Tony’s best friend was stood with his arms crossed looking disapprovingly at his two friends.

 

“We’re twisting” Tony shouted over the music laughing maniacally and jumping up and down.

 

Clint sighed heavily but with a smirk on his face joined in and bounced over to his friends and began to do the twist and shout dance with his feet sliding side to side. Tony and Pepper got into line next to him and in perfect synchronisation, they were twisting their feet until they were all shuffling up and down the store in a line.

 

As the last chorus came around Tony started a conga line swinging his arms but still twisting his feet as the others followed him in a perfect loop around the store leading back to the front as the song ended. When they reached the door the bell rang out just as the song ended and Tony smacked right into the chest of the waiting stranger. Looking up slightly startled he was met with the two most piercing blue eyes, the eyes of someone he had quickly grown to like despite trying to fight it.

“Steve?” Tony sounded surprised because he was, in all his years of coming to the record shop he had never seen anyone from the school other than Clint who only ever came in with Tony so he could see Pepper.

 

“Tony!” Steve sounded nervous and was quickly mumbling something incoherent under his breath awkwardly rubbing his neck trying to brush away the close proximity they had found themselves in.

 

“What are you doing here?” Tony asked his voice slightly high pitched as he struggled to calm down, his heart was beating a mile a minute. Pepper and Clint soon picked up on the awkwardness when Steve didn’t say anything but glanced over at the two of them clearly waiting for them to be out of earshot. They took their hint and tripping over each other shuffled off to stand behind the counter to give the pair some privacy.

 

“I saw you at the game” Steve remarked jumping straight into the one thing that had been playing on his mind since the game.

 

“I was there…for a bit” Tony was a bit harsh in his words but he didn’t care he knew that despite how much he liked Steve he had to put a stop to whatever this was before he got too attached.

 

“Why did you leave?” Steve sounded like a lost child looking down at his feet.

 

“I need to be honest with you here, this, whatever you’re trying to start here, it cant happen!” Tony’s outburst took Steve by surprise and the look of confusion on his face told Tony he certainly didn’t feel the same way.

 

“I thought we were friends” Steve’s voice was quiet and Tony could tell he was hurting and it killed him inside knowing he was the one that had to do this.

 

“We cant be friends Steve, not when you’re you and I’m me! We’re just too different” Tony softened his voice not wanting to hurt the guy anymore.

 

“Since when has being different stopped you from doing anything you want, I mean look at you!” Steve gestured his hands up and down the, yet another, crazy outfit choice. Today’s outfit featured a denim jacket and jeans combo with a Guns N Roses band t-shirt, the look was topped off by the red headband and matching bandana hanging from his neck.

 

“That’s my point! No matter what we want I will always be the freak with the robots and you’ll be the popular jock that every girl wants to date…there’s just no breaking those moulds” Tony was upset but holding it together surprisingly well for him.

 

“Bull!” Pepper’s voice appeared beside them and when Tony and Steve snapped their heads around they were faced with Pepper and Clint both sitting on top of the counter with their arms crossed and looks of disapproval plastered all over their faces.

 

“Excuse me!” Tony was mildly irritated by his friends’ interruption.

 

“Sorry to interrupt this little moment but I’m calling Bullshit on this whole excuse you’ve got going on” She waved her hands around indicating to the pair of them.

 

“I’m sorry but who invited you to the party?” Tony asked sarcastically.

 

“I invited myself because the host of the party is being a jerk” She jumped off the desk and came towards him, she was significantly shorter than both Tony and Steve but that didn’t stop Tony cowering back slightly as she approached. “The pair of you clearly like each other and there’s something more going on…it’s none of my business obviously so tell me to shut up”

 

“Shut up!” All three men, Tony, Steve and Clint all shouted at her in unison.

 

“Regardless! I think you should screw what everyone else thinks if you think it’s worth it then go for it! And besides who else really needs to know?” Pepper concluded her little speech throwing it back over to Steve with a glance.

 

“She’s got a point, Tony, what do you say?” Steve asked with a hopeful smile that Tony really couldn’t resist.

 

“Okay fine! But no one finds out okay! I get enough shit from Obadiah as it is I don’t need to be accused of distracting you from the big game…” Tony froze suddenly realising he didn’t stick around long enough to find out the outcome of the game, not that he usually cared about football but it was somehow important now. “The game?” Tony threw his hand over his mouth in both shock and embarrassment at having not asked already.

 

“We won” Steve was so calm about it but the smile on his face told Tony that the win meant the absolute world to him.

 

“This calls for a celebration…Maestro! Hit it” Tony pointed over at Clint who rolled off the desk and went to change the record with speed.

 

“Tony no!” Steve protested as Tony grabbed his hand and pulled him further into the store as the music started to play for the third time in the space of half an hour.

 

Tony loved to dance and music was his life, he wasn’t very talented when it came to making his own music but he could appreciate the sound of true artists.

 

The four of them danced around the store clearing out what little customers remained as they kept intruding on their quiet shopping experience, one guy even shouted at them before storming out the shop, but that didn’t stop any of them from dancing. Even Steve was getting into it until the energy was zapped out of him, he had just been playing football so what little energy he’d had left was now lost. Steve collapsed against the shelves tucked into a corner to catch his breath watching with bright eyes and a warm glow as Tony spun in a circle twirling the bandana from his neck around as he went. It wasn’t long before Tony spotted Steve sitting on the floor and decided to join him leaving Pepper and Clint to work off their sexual tension in the dancing.

 

“You okay?” Tony was out of breath too but he was feeling full of energy, he hadn’t been this happy in a long time.

 

“I’m good” Steve replied smiling warmly over at Tony, “We good?” Steve asked holding out his hand for Tony to shake. Cautiously eyeing up the hand offered to him Tony suddenly felt the weight of what this friendship could mean for them if anyone at school ever found out. However, looking into Steve’s eyes something in him melted away all that fear left him in an instant because he knew that despite first appearances Steve was different. Tony took hold of Steve’s hand firmly trying to express all he felt in that one handshake.

 

“We’re good” Tony sounded so genuine, the moment was quickly over as he yanked Steve up nearly pulling his arm out the socket back up to the makeshift dance floor they had created.


	6. A friendship forms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a long chapter but hopefully its good!   
> My writing isn't that great today cause I've been feeling a bit rubbish both physically and mentally but really wanted to get the next chapter down because I love where I'm going with this story, this was just the filler bits in the middle before the drama/romance/ending!
> 
> Anyway, Hope you enjoy!

Tony had been in a good mood all week, every day getting out of bed had been something he looked forward to rather than the chore it had grown to be over the last five years. School was no longer a daily fear for him not now he had Steve Rogers the most popular guy in school on his side. It hadn’t stopped the beatings, but they had significantly reduced during the week now he had Steve at his side.

 

They had tried to be secretive about their friendship for both of their sakes. Mostly decided by Tony because he didn’t want Obadiah getting on his case for something else. Steve didn’t care who saw but he respected Tony’s decision to keep it between them.

 

Steve leant against the wall that had become their usual meeting point since they began hanging out. The routine they had fallen into consisted of Steve waiting by the wall ignoring the calls from his ‘friends’ to come and join them. Then the bell would ring out and he would remain there for a short time until Tony’s familiar convertible pulled into his usual space and they would head to class together. Usually Tony would go in first followed a few minutes later by Steve.

 

“Morning, nice shirt” Steve would always compliment Tony on his choice of outfit for the day knowing now how much effort he actually puts into the look.

 

“Actually, it’s a poncho” Tony corrected him with a big smirk on his face, he had decided today to let his curly mess of dark hair do it's own thing, which consisted of sitting in a semi-styled untidiness on his head.

 

“That explains the hat” Steve supressed the smirk threatening to pull at his lips as he avoided the slap that came flying his way.

 

“I’ll have you know this is a good look” Tony pulled the cord of the Stetson hat tighter up his neck pulling the hat further up on the back of his neck.

 

“Well you pull off anything” Steve complimented causing Tony to blush a crimson colour.

 

“You flirting with me Rogers” Tony was teasing but his stomach flipped when Steve’s cheeks burned a bright red colour and he avoided his fixed gaze.

 

…………………………………………………..

 

Their awkward moment practically forgotten by the time they reached class, their usual routine fell into place as Tony entered first and taking his seat at the front of the class. A few comments were thrown his way from the huddle of jocks at the back of the room, mostly unoriginal jibes at his outfit and one or two commenting on his lateness.

 

“Settle down class” Dr Banner shushed everyone, so when Steve entered the room it drew more attention than either of the boys would have liked. Especially when Steve made eye contact with Tony and flashed him a smile that didn’t go unnoticed by Obadiah.

 

“Psst, Rogers” Obadiah whispered across the room when Steve took his seat, he had found himself moving closer to Tony as the week progressed to the point where he was sitting directly behind Tony essentially creating a physical barrier between Obadiah and Tony.

 

“What?” Steve didn’t even turn around he remained focused on the board trying to listen to what was being said.

 

“What was that about?” Obadiah used his foot to kick the bottom of Steve’s chair to get his attention.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Steve muttered as he tried to copy the notes from the board.

 

“You do know…you getting friendly with the coaches kid?” Obadiah had grabbed the wrong end of the stick entirely but Steve didn’t mind because at least now he had a valid excuse if anyone found out.

 

“You’ve got a wild imagination Obie” Steve laughed trying to avoid the conversation entirely.

 

“Whatever, you’re the one trying to get in coaches good books…it wont make you his favourite you know” Obadiah spat trying to keep his voice low. Steve noticed Tony’s head twitch around as he listened into the conversation.

 

“It’s a good thing I already am then isn’t it?” Steve spun around in his chair facing Obadiah and fixing him with a menacing glare that made the other man cower back and keep quiet. “That’s what I thought” Steve couldn’t help but crack a smile at Tony as he turned around any time he one-upped Obadiah was a win for them both.

 

The class went by in a flash, which Tony was disappointed about as it meant he now had to go face the corridors alone. Only this week he had Steve watching his back, they couldn’t exactly walk freely down the corridors together not without confirming Obadiah’s suspicions. So they had come to a decision at the start of the week that Tony would head out first ahead of Obadiah and Steve would meet him under the bleachers in a corner of the field no one ever went to. There were parts of the field that were used for different things, including make out row which was under a broken row of seats that gave sufficient cover for couples to get down to business without prying eyes.

 

Then there was the seats just bellow the private boxes at the top where kids went to smoke pot and generally get high in whatever fashion they could.

 

That left the private boxes for Steve and Tony to hide in, they had chosen the box where Steve had found him that day during practice after the run in with his dad.

 

“Knock, knock” Steve whispered through the door, it wasn’t much of a password but it was the best they could come up with in one week. Steve hovered outside waiting for Tony to open the door for him.

 

“You don’t have to do that you know” Tony sighed as he opened the door and let Steve make his way inside.

 

“It’s code” Steve smirked taking a seat on the sofa in the middle of the room.

 

“Yeah, well you sound stupid when you do it” Tony flopped down with a huff next to him rubbing his eyes.

 

“What’s up with you? Last I checked it was your idea to keep this whole thing a secret” Steve didn’t sound annoyed but he was worried that something more was on Tony’s mind.

 

“I know, I guess I’m just paranoid” Tony shrugged sheepishly rubbing his hand through his hair messing it up further.

 

“You’ve got nothing to worry about I promise” Steve put his hand on Tony’s shoulder gripping it firmly trying to reassure him.

 

“I heard what Obadiah said earlier” there it was the real reason why he was acting so strange. Steve sighed pulling his arm around Tony’s shoulder and sliding closer to him so that their bodies were pressed together.

 

“Tony, listen to me! I’m not friends with you because of your dad…besides I get the feeling your dad will be less than impressed to find out we’re friends” Steve was careful with how he worded it he didn’t want to upset Tony further but he also knew about their rocky relationship.

 

“He’d be pissed! You’re his favourite player, like the son he always wished I was” Tony hung his head low rubbing frantically at his eyes fighting back the sting of the tears.

 

“You don’t need his approval, Tony” Steve hesitated hovering his hand over Tony’s hair before finding the courage to run his hand through his hair using his fingers to massage his head in a comforting gesture. “There are so many people that care about you, Clint, Dr Banner, Pepper…me” Steve went quiet as he listed himself as part of those people that cared for Tony.

 

Tony lifted his head and looked over at Steve, for a moment they sat in silence just falling into each others eyes both of them feeling like their heart would jump out of their chest at any minute. The awkward cough from Steve forced Tony to look away with a start he focused his attention out the window on the groups of students walking back and forth across the field. Tony’s eyes suddenly went wide with fear as he saw Obadiah and his gang of thugs coming their way.

 

“We have to go” Tony jumped up from the sofa running for the door like a deer caught in the headlights.

  
“What why?” Steve wasn’t sure what was going on but soon clocked on when he followed where Tony had been looking out the window and spotted Obadiah heading their way.

 

“I know a way out where he wont see us” Steve pulled Tony back from the door and lead the way out the back through a small passageway that ran along the back of the boxes until they reached a ladder leading down to where the pot heads gathered.

 

“Wait! What if…” Tony pointed at the guys below them and mouthed something unintelligible at Steve.

 

“They wont know who they are let alone what we’re doing come on” Steve started down the ladder making space for Tony to follow, just as they reached half way down they heard the roaring laughter of Obadiah coming from the box they had just escaped.

 

“Come on Tony” Steve helped lower Tony to the ground and without hesitation they ran off under the bleachers towards the main building.

 

They burst through the fire doors both out of breath leaning against the walls now they were safely out of view.

 

“That was close,” Tony said between breaths.

 

“Yeah…” Steve and Tony locked eyes for a moment before they both burst into laugher, struggling to breath as it was they keeled over slumping to the floor giggling like a couple of kids.

 

“Tony? Steve?” The voice of Dr Banner pulled them back to reality as they both sat on the floor tears streaming down their faces. “What are you two doing?” Banner asked clearly amused by the picture he had discovered.

 

“Sorry sir, we were just…” Steve couldn’t think of a good enough excuse so looked to Tony to help. Tony shrugged, eyes wide, at Steve struggling to come up with something so just continued laughing.

 

“Well whatever you two were up to you cant stay sitting here come on get out of here” Banner waited for the pair to get up before stopping Steve with a gentle hand on his shoulder as he tried to pass. “Not you Rogers I want a quick word with you” Banner raised his eyebrows at the boy suggesting that perhaps his little chat with him was something serious.

 

Steve nodded over at Tony “I’ll meet you outside” Tony walked away cautiously looking behind him trying to catch whatever was going on.

 

“In here” Banner walked into his empty office heading for the desk. “Close the door” He pointed behind him and Steve did as he was told standing awkwardly in the empty space.

 

“Am I in trouble sir?” Steve asked trying not to sound so much like a child about to be told off for getting crumbs all over the sofa.

 

“Not at all Steve, I just wanted to have a little chat with you… about Tony” Banner took a seat on the other side of his desk indicating for Steve to sit down opposite.

 

Once Steve was sitting rather uncomfortably Banner began “I’ve noticed you and Tony have become rather close this past week…which don’t get me wrong is a nice thing, its been good to see Tony smile” Banner sounded sincere as he spoke. “However, I wanted to make sure that he’s not going to get hurt at the end of this” Banner was fiddling with the edge of a folder on his desk maintaining eye contact with Steve.

 

“If you want to know my intentions, they certainly aren’t to hurt Tony…I care about him” Steve was getting defensive and could feel his eyes begin to sting.

 

“Alright, its okay Steve I understand…I just wanted to make sure” Banner rose from his seat and made his way around the desk, he leant casually against the desk beside Steve placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You’re a good kid Steve and believe it or not I’m not as blind as you students seem to think I am” Steve wiped his sleeve over his eyes looking up at Banner.

 

“What do you mean?” He asked sniffing deeply trying to pull back the tears.

 

“I’ve seen how you look at him in class, you like him don’t you? And don’t lie to me because I’m the guy who gives you your grade” this made Steve laugh slightly which broke the ice a little.

  
Steve hadn’t thought much about his feelings towards Tony, all he really knew was the over the past five years he’s watched him from a distance whilst his world spiralled into popularity with girls throwing themselves at him and never really being interested. Steve had wondered why, its not like he’d had a girlfriend to name but what he did know what that he’d never felt anything towards them passed being their friend. Tony was different and it scared him more than anything, it’s probably why he kept his distance for so long, scared he’d let something slip. This year Steve had decided to take the chance, it was his last chance after all considering they would both be graduating in the summer and undoubtedly going to different colleges. His feelings for Tony had surpassed that of just friendship the moment he saw Obadiah beating him in the hallway over a week ago and in that moment his heart stopped and all he wanted to do was wrap Tony in his arms and protect him from anything that would ever wish to harm him again. That was the day Steve realised he had the worlds biggest crush on Tony Stark and the day he decided to do something about it.

 

“I care for Tony a great deal and I just want him to be happy” Steve’s response was from the heart but reserved, what he really felt was being held back specifically for Tony.

 

“I know” Banner got up from the desk and walked over to a small refrigerator in the corner of the room. “Would you care for a drink Steve?” Banner asked holding out a can of coke.

 

“Yes please” Steve hadn’t realised but during the initial worry of the impending ‘talk’ with Dr Banner his mouth had gone ridiculously dry.

 

Whilst Banner grabbed a drink for him and Steve, Steve let his eyes wander over the various framed photos behind the desk that he hadn’t noticed before. All of them were new articles from various years and each headline featured some sort of scientific achievement. When Banner returned he noticed Steve admiring the wall.

  
“These are all past students that have made a difference to science, I’m quite proud of these kids…hence why they’re on my wall of fame” Banner chuckled whilst unhooking a frame from the bottom corner handing it over to Steve.

The frame held a recent news article that featured a photo of Tony sitting beside his robotic arm that Steve had seen him with the day Obadiah beat him up.

 

“Is that Tony?” Steve sounded surprised as he traced his fingers over the slightly dusty glass.

 

“Yeah, he won the regional science contest a few months ago, but what’s particularly special about that is that it lead to a scholarship offer to MIT” Banner announced so casually as if getting into one of the top colleges in the country was an everyday occurrence.

 

“He did what?” Steve was impressed, he knew Tony was smart that goes without saying but getting into MIT with a full ride based on his inventions is incredible.

 

“Yeah, spent all summer working on Dum-e” Banner tapped the photo pointing at the robot by Tony’s side.

 

“Dum-e?”

 

“Yeah that’s what he calls it, supposedly the thing has a mind of its own and has a few ‘glitches’ he needs to work out” Banner used his fingers as air quotes.

 

“This is incredible! Why does he keep this quiet?” Steve asked suddenly realising Tony has never mentioned it to him.

 

“Because he’s a quiet kid…or because he’s surprisingly modest for someone so eccentric? Who knows all I know is that Tony lives for his inventions but has no love for the acclaim that goes with it” Banner smiled over at Steve as he watched the young boy smile fondly down at the photo. “You can keep that,” Banner pointed at the photo frame.

  
“What? No I couldn’t take this” Steve tried to hand back the frame but Banner simply shook his head at him. “Thank you, sir” Steve ran his fingers over the photo of Tony one more time before shoving the frame into his backpack.

 

“You should go, Tony will be waiting for you” Banner pointed at the door indicating that Steve could leave.

 

“Thank you, sir, for this” Steve wasn’t entirely sure what ‘this’ was but it gave him an insight into Tony, one that he hadn’t really seen before.

 

……………………………………………………………….

 

When Steve met back up with Tony he was already waiting in the car the roof down and a new set of aviator shades sitting on his nose.

 

“Where we going?” Steve used one hand to jump into the passenger seat of the convertible swiping the glasses off Tony’s face.

 

“Hey! Those are mine!” Tony’s attempt to snatch back his shades didn’t go so well as Steve batted his hand away.

 

“Just drive, will you!” Steve pushed Tony back to his side of the car with one hand and wacked on the radio with the other.

 

“Fine!” Tony sounded annoyed but the small smirk that appeared on his face when Steve wasn’t looking was enough to reassure him that he was genuinely happy.

 

“So where are we going?” Steve asked again pulling the glasses up over his eyes to get a better view of Tony.

 

“You’ll see” Steve huffed flopping back into his seat sliding the glasses back onto his nose.

 

“Well, wake me when we get there” Steve settled into the chair leaning against the door pretending to go to sleep when in reality the sneaky theft of the shades meant he could now watch Tony driving without him knowing.

 

……………………………………………………………………

 

It hadn’t taken long for Steve to drift off with the wind blowing through the car and the sounds of the radio soothing him off to sleep, so when he woke up in a strange place he was mostly very confused.

 

Tony shut off the engine causing Steve to stir from his sleep and sit up stretching his arms out above his head.

 

“We’re here,” Tony said with his usual chirpy voice.

 

“Where is here?” Steve placed the glasses on top of his head and took in the area around the car.   


They were parked in a rough terrain car park made from pebbles and broken asphalt, there were only a few other cars in the lot all of which seemed to be unoccupied. Steve stood up in the car and sat on the top of the seat with his hands over the windshield looking out over the embankment they had parking in front of. The embankment lead down to the quiet sandy beach, only a few people occupied the small stretch of seafront that seemed to end at a large pile of naturally formed rocks. The rocks were hardly sufficient enough to be called a cliff but were high enough up that they formed a natural ridge along the top.

 

“We’re at the beach?” Steve asked, he was really asking what they were doing there.

 

“We’re at the beach,” Tony confirmed slapping Steve on the knee and jumping out of the car.

 

Tony ran down the embankment leaving Steve behind as he skidded to a halt at the bottom of the small incline rolling forward into the sand. Steve couldn’t help but laugh at the tumbling mess that was Tony Stark, he watched as an elderly woman came rushing to his aid in the sand. Tony shook off the sand jumping up as the woman approached offering her help, Steve could tell he was embarrassed by the cherry colour his cheeks had turned.

 

“Wait for me!” Steve shouted jumping from the car and making his way carefully down the embankment not wanting to do a summersault like Tony had. When he reached the beach his shoes quickly filled with sand seeping through the loopholes where his shoelaces were. Tony meanwhile had set off running down the beach leaving Steve behind to battle with the itchy sand that was now rubbing in between his toes.

 

“Come on Steve!” Tony called running backwards towards the rocks.

 

Steve trailed after him flicking sand as he went he wasn’t exactly dressed for the beach and was seriously regretting his decision in footwear. Steve paused at the foot of the rocks that Tony had begun to climb looking up at the towering formation his nerves getting the better of him.

 

“Tony!” Steve cupped his hands and shouted up at him to stop.

 

“What’s wrong?” Tony had a teasing tone to his voice until he saw the look of fear on Steve’s face. Climbing back down so he was only a few feet above Steve he reached his hand out towards him. “Come on” Tony had a carful smile on his face, one that he hoped would be enough to calm Steve down and allow him to start climbing.

 

“Where are we going, Tony?” Steve whined but took hold on Tony’s hand finding the confidence to face his fears with Tony’s help.

 

“You’ll see just start climbing its not that steep I promise” Steve knew Tony wouldn’t take him somewhere he didn’t think was safe but a part of him was still terrified he’d fall to his death if his foot so much as shifted. Steve kept a tight hold on Tony’s hand as he lead him up the rocks he watched closely following Tony’s foot placements and before he realised it they had reached the ledge just before the top of the rocks.

 

“We’re here” Tony let go of his hand, which Steve instantly missed awkwardly putting his hand in his pocket to make up for the lost warmth. Tony sat down with his back against the rocks facing out towards the sea, Steve hesitated waiting for an invitation to sit down that came in the form of Tony pulling at his sleeve until he was sat beside him, their knees touching from the close proximity.

 

“Wow!” Steve was breathless, his eyes following the line of the horizon as the sun shimmered against the ocean.

 

“I know right!” Tony laughed shuffling closer to Steve so their bodies were touching. “I come here every day after school, its my place” Tony announced his usual cheery tone now replaced with something Steve had never heard before, he sounded quieter almost mature.

 

“It’s beautiful…but why did you bring _me_ here” Steve knew they hadn’t been friends that long and this seemed awfully personal to Tony.

 

“I trust you” Those three words hit Steve like a tone of bricks, he knew about Tony’s past his current situation with Obadiah and his dad and for someone like Tony to still be able to trust and to trust a guy who associated with his bullies meant a lot.

 

“I trust you too, Tony…enough to tell you…” Steve paused suddenly the air caught in his throat and he couldn’t speak, could he really risk exposing himself.

 

“Tell me what?” Tony placed his hand over Steve’s knee in an attempt to get him to continue.

 

Taking a deep breath Steve went for it, what had he got to lose after all other than an amazing week getting to be friends with Tony Stark, “I have a crazy crush on you, Tony” Steve didn’t dare look over at Tony he just let the words dissipate over the water.

 

The moment fell into silence as Steve watched the waves his heart beating in time with the water crashing against the rocks and Tony sitting beside him not saying a word. Why wasn’t he speaking? Steve looked across at Tony who was staring wide-eyed at the horizon.

 

“You okay?” Steve asked putting his hand over Tony’s that was still on his knee.

 

“Hm? Yeah, no I’m good…just surprised really…I mean Steve Rogers captain of the football team and most popular guy in school just told me he likes me!” Tony was looking a little freaked out suddenly swiping his hand away from Steve and running his hands through his hair like he does when he’s stressed and something Steve found incredibly endearing about him.

 

“When you put it like that it makes me sound like some rock star” Steve laughed feeling slightly self-conscious at the description.

 

“In a way you kind of are! I mean I’ve had one friend my entire high school life…now don’t get me wrong Clint is an amazing friend but then you came along and you were amazing and beautiful and those eyes…damn you just blew me away!” Steve turned a bright shade of red as Tony rapidly spat out his feelings in a messy jumble of words and flailing hands.

 

“Tony…” Steve began but was cut off when Tony start spouting out more.

 

“I’ve watched you from a distance for so long like watching some famous actor in a movie knowing you can admire them from afar but that you’ll never be in the same league as them…Imagine my surprise when the movie star knows my name! and better yet wants to be my friend!” Tony was up now pacing back and forth on the rock.

 

“Tony be careful” Steve slid up the back of the rock holding on tight for fear he might fall if he stepped away from the wall.

 

“I was happy to settle for friends because I knew that despite how I felt…how I’ve always felt! You couldn’t possibly ever feel the same way!” Tony’s voice was getting higher and higher the more he spoke.

 

“Tony please be careful you are getting close to the edge” Tony stopped looking down at his feet realising that his toe was hanging over the drop.

 

“Oh…” Pulling back towards the wall getting closer to Steve in the process he continued to ramble “but you feel the same?” Tony asked his voice calming down slightly getting softer as he moved into Steve’s personal space.

 

“I feel the same, Tony” Steve was feeling confident placing his hand on Tony’s shoulder sliding his hand up his neck until he was cupping his face softly.

 

“Steve…” The lips pressed against his own cut off Tony sending a shock through his body. Tony took a moment before deepening the kiss wrapping his arms loosely around Steve’s neck, the only sound he could hear was the ringing in his ears as the blood pumped through his body.

 

“Wow, you’re good at that” Tony said as they parted for air, Steve couldn’t help but laugh at how innocent Tony was.

 

“So are you,” Steve said pressing his lips against Tony’s once more pulling him as close as he could so their bodies were flush against each other.

 

“And I thought keeping the friends thing a secret would be tricky!” Tony laughed.

 

“I want to tell them,” Steve said with a serious tone.

 

“We can’t tell them! What about Obadiah or my dad? They wouldn’t just go after me…you’d be a target as well and I don’t want that for you” Tony was sincere he knew what it was like to be bullied every day for your entire teenage life and he didn’t want that for Steve.

 

“I can handle Obadiah! I’m just fed up of hiding who I am” Steve’s chest tightened as he said the words out loud, he knew he had feelings for Tony but telling the world, despite what he was saying he had his doubts about it. Right here right now on this rock he was brave enough to let it out but the thought of telling everyone at school made his stomach flip with nerves. Right now it was perfect with Tony wrapped in his arms watching the sun set against the waves but once the sun set it would bring about a new day where they would have to face everyone else.


	7. Stealth mode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been crazy busy with work and a new hobby that keeps me busy and out the house XD 
> 
> I'm not sure when the next chapter will be as I haven't actually written it but it's got notes all planned out ready to write. 
> 
> Warning there is mention of violence in this chapter.

“Hey Rogers!” The voice of Obadiah appeared behind Steve as he made his way to practice. His stomach sank when the large hand clasped down on his shoulder preventing him from walking off. 

“What do you want Obie?” Steve muttered refusing to turn around and give him the satisfaction. 

“Just wondering where you’ve been lately that’s all, we figured you’d got yourself a girl on the side they you haven’t told us about?” Obie indicated to the rabble of jocks behind him all of them waiting patiently to hear Steve’s excuses. 

“No girl just catching up on some homework, I need to keep my grades up if I want to go to college” Steve pulled free from Obie’s hand, he had begun to dig his nails into his shoulder causing his shoulder to ache. 

“Well seeing as you’ve been working so hard lately, why don’t you come over tonight, I’m having a house party”, Obie began to walk away not waiting for an answer from Steve, as his followers made their way down the hall Obie paused next to Steve and crept close to his face, “Maybe you could bring that girlfriend of yours” Obadiah spat as he spoke with a grin on his face. Steve shivered as his harsh voice hit his face. 

……………………….

“Steve!” Tony approached Steve standing by his locker Steve flinched at the sound of Tony’s voice. He had been feeling on edge since his encounter with Obadiah earlier that day and he was beginning to think going to the party was a bad idea, if the dull ache in the pit of his stomach was anything to go on he should really listen. 

“Tony! You startled me” Steve clutched his chest on the pretence that he was startled but in reality he was a terrible liar and was trying to avoid him. Despite his popularity and persona of radiating confidence Steve Rogers often felt like more of a coward, especially since everything happened with Tony. 

“Sorry, I was just going to ask if you wanted to hang out tonight? I was going to head over to the store to see Pepper but we can meet up afterwards” Tony was so innocently optimistic and a pang of guilt tugged at Steve’s heart. Since he found out about the party his head had been all over the place trying his best to push the idea of turning up to the party with Tony on his arm. Part of him wanted nothing more than to show off Tony, to say, look this is my guy the amazing, intelligent, funny Tony Stark. However, there was something holding him back and that something came in the form of the dull ache he’s been feeling all over since he spoke to Obadiah, he knew and that scared Steve more than anything, but he wasn’t scared for himself. 

“I’ve actually been invited to this thing tonight, kind of a football team celebration get together at Obadiah’s place” Steve hung his head suddenly the look on Tony’s face was just too much for Steve’s heart to take, he looked like an abandoned puppy and Steve was the guy that left him at the side of the road. 

“That’s cool I get that…well…have fun” The awkward tension filled the air, thankfully the shrill sound of the bell rang through the hall giving the pair an excuse to turn on their heels and walk in the opposite directions. 

……………………….

“Tony where are we going?” Clint was trailing behind as he clambered through the bushes with Tony it was pitch black out and the ground was damp where a sprinkler system had been sputtering round. 

“I told you, we are going to this party to surprise Steve” Tony pushed past a large branch of a bush forgetting to hold onto it for Clint letting it twang back hitting him in the chest. 

“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Clint stopped as the branch hit him groaning as he pushed his way through to join Tony in the garden. They were technically trespassing and party crashing but it didn’t seem to bother Tony in the slightest the only thing on Tony’s mind was getting into that party and surprising Steve. 

“I can handle Obadiah if that’s what you mean” Tony snapped as he led the way around the side of the house, the music reverberating through the walls as they tried to find a way in where they wouldn’t get caught by Obadiah. 

“Yeah, tell that to the massive black bruise on your side” Clint prodded Tony in the ribs to make a point. 

“Ow!” 

“My point exactly” Clint stumbled into Tony when he stopped abruptly at a side window that was dark on the inside but luckily for them it had been left slightly ajar. 

“Come on, time to get this party started” Tony climbed through the window falling flat on his face on the other side only to be squashed back down again when the full weight of Clint came piling on top of him. 

“Sorry!” Clint pushed up against Tony’s back, grunting in pain as he pushed his whole weight down onto him. 

“Help me up!” Tony snapped, he had after all just been crushed then used as leverage the least he could do was help him back up. 

“Yeah, Sorry” Clint held out his hand pulling Tony to his feet, they both glanced around looking for any source of light, the only sliver coming from underneath the door. Tony crept over turning the door handle and peaking out into the space, it was a brightly lit corridor that appeared empty, the music could be heard coming from the room down the hall. The door at the other end of the corridor flung open and a young couple swaying all over each other came stumbling down the hall, clearly drunk, Tony etched the door shut slightly to hide from sight. The couple entered the room at the other end and Tony could just about see the crowd of people in what appeared to be a large living room with a bar. Obadiah’s parents were rich and he didn’t hide this fact from his followers, often showing off his latest ‘daddy bought me’ gift. 

“Coast is clear lets go” Tony and Clint crept down the hall and snuck into the large room dipping down the side of the bar slightly covered by a protruding wall so they were at least obstructed from most angles. 

“Now what do we do?” Clint asked taking in the faces in the room, mostly those of the football team and their accompanying friends, no one seemed all that interested in the two new faces behind the bar it was probably a good thing because at that moment Clint spotted Obadiah at the far side by the front door. He was laughing obnoxiously with a group of cheerleaders clearly trying to impress. Luckily for them that meant he was pre-occupied for the time being. 

“Right, now we find Steve” Tony said looking around the room but neither of them could see Steve anywhere. 

“I don’t see him Tony, what if he decided not to come” Clint got momentarily distracted from the task at hand when he spotted a cooler full of beer. 

“He’ll be here” Tony replied not taking his eyes away from the crowd. 

“Well we might be here a while…so we might as well enjoy the party” Clint tossed Tony one of the cans snapping his own open spraying froth everywhere. Tony hesitated looking at the drink in his hand, if Steve did turn up he didn’t want to be smashed but on the other hand his nerves where beginning to kick in. The adrenaline from breaking into the party was wearing off now they were stuck waiting around for something to happen. Snapping off the ring at the top the froth splashing into his eyes, Tony took a sip deciding that one couldn’t hurt right. 

………………………….

Steve arrived late to the party, so late in fact there was already someone spewing up on the front lawn and another guy passed out on the swing bench on the front porch. He shook his head as he passed smirking slightly at the sight of the poor guy whose head was currently tangled up in the bushes as he fell face first into his own vomit. Steve really didn’t want to be here. 

Making his way into the house his presence was immediately clocked by most of the faces in the room, the majority of which were of the female population many of them would never dream of even approaching the star quarterback but one particularly brave girl came sliding over with as much seductive charm as her hips could carry. 

“Steve! I didn’t know you were coming?” The girl, who Steve recognised as the head of the cheerleading squad and Obadiah’s ex-girlfriend, settled in beside him blocking his path. 

“Yeah, well I wanted a change from studying” Steve lied trying to see past her to scan the room. 

“Obie said you’d been studying a lot lately…so who is she?” The girl asked flirtation in her voice but it wasn’t like she was being subtle. 

“Who?” Steve asked only half listening to her. 

“The girl you’re seeing in secret…and come to think of it why are you keeping her secret…unless its to make someone jealous” She was spouting rubbish and Steve wasn’t in the mood to be hit on right now he was looking for any excuse to leave. That’s when his eyes landed on the one person he did not expect to see, Tony standing or rather crouching behind the bar with Clint down the other end chatting up one of the other cheerleaders. Steve watched as Tony made his way through the double doors just off the side of the room and disappear. 

“Steve?” The cheerleader had been hanging off Steve’s arm waiting for a response and was getting impatient that his attention wasn’t completely on her. 

“Sorry, I need to see someone will you excuse me” Steve awkwardly untangled his arm from her grip and tried to make his way towards the door but she followed him. 

“She must be pretty special” She was talking but Steve wasn’t listening, something in the pit of his stomach told him he needed to get to Tony. What was he even doing here? He knew it was Obadiah’s house, which would spell nothing but disaster for Tony if he got caught. 

…………………………………

Tony slipped through the door back into the corridor that seemed to be the main corridor leading to the rest of the house. He was hoping to find Steve in some other part of the house where the party was overflowing into other rooms, he poked his head into the first room only to awkwardly encounter a whole different kind of party. 

“Whoops, sorry” Tony shut the door back in the corridor, spinning around he was sent flying backward into the wall with a sharp dull pain to his stomach. 

“Tony Stark! I knew if I invited your boyfriend you’d show up” Obadiah hovered over Tony who was leant against the wall his back slumped to one side gripping his stomach. 

“I have nothing to say to you Obie” Tony choked out his breath had been severely compromised with the punch.

“I wasn’t going to talk” Obadiah lifted his knee and used it to slam a blow into the side of Tony’s face knocking his head back into the wall and causing blood to begin to flow from his nose. Another sharp hit came from his boot when it made contact with Tony’s side, back to his usual tricks of hiding the bruises where no one would notice them. 

Tony groaned as he slipped further down the wall using his free hand to wipe the blood from his face but only succeeded in smearing it down his cheek. His head was beginning to pound with each beat of his heart sending the blood rushing down his nose even more. “Please” Tony whispered straining to muster up any breath, the force of talking was enough to send his side into crushing pain. 

“You want more…okay” Obadiah laughed as he slammed his knee into Tony’s face again his neck snapped back nearly knocking him our cold. Tony lay on his side he cheek against the cold hardwood floors his eye for some reason wouldn’t open and he could feel the swelling begin to form over his eyelid. He gathered up all the strength he had left and heaved himself back up until he was sat upright, Obadiah seemingly distracted he took his chance slamming his foot into Obie’s thigh knocking his off balance, enough for Tony to stand up and make his escape down the hall. As he ran back towards the door into the main party he slammed into the familiar chest of Steve. 

“Tony?” Steve reached down wrapping his hands around Tony’s face pulling him up so they were inches apart. “What the hell happened?” Steve used his thumb to wipe away the blood smeared on his cheek. 

“You can get your boyfriend out of here Rogers” Obadiah spat as he hauled himself off the floor his hand over his thigh where Tony had jabbed him. 

“Steve, I thought we were getting a drink” The flirty voice of little miss cheerleader appeared behind Steve who physically tensed at the sound. Tony’s body froze as he looked up at Steve, shock and confusion filled his damaged features. 

“Tony, its not what you think” Steve began almost panicked as the confusion turned to realisation on Tony’s face, he yanked himself free from his embrace taking a giant step back to put the physical and emotional distance between them. 

“What’s he doing here?” She giggled from behind Steve, as if the notion that Tony Stark would be anywhere near her was laughable. 

“Shut up will you,” Steve snapped pushing her back through the door and slamming it shut in her face. 

Tony was backing away slowly the pain in his body making it difficult for him to make a quick escape he couldn’t stop the tears as they fell across his already messy face. He took one last look at Steve the tears falling freely now before darting off down the hall and through the end door. 

Obadiah approached Steve getting in his personal space, the sweat from the beating was pooling on his brow and his breath stank of alcohol. 

“You shouldn’t have brought your girlfriend” Obadiah breathed over Steve, which only enraged him further. Since Tony had backed away Steve had been building up his rage to the point of no return his clenched fist by his side still covered in Tony’s blood suddenly came flying across Obadiah’s jaw sending him crashing to the floor. 

“You touch him again and it’ll be more than a swift jab to the teeth do you hear me!” Steve stepped over the now cowering giant of a boy and darted off down the corridor to find Tony.


	8. Time for a swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but sweet..trying to update some of my bigger stories in bits...I haven't abandoned these stories I promise.

“Tony? Are you out here?” Steve had tried to follow Tony but had lost him in the corridors of the big house, it had taken him nearly an hour getting caught by people wanting to talk to the popular jock and Steve being too nice to just walk away. It was late into the night by the time he found Tony in the back yard of the house. Tony was walking precariously along the edge of the semi-drained pool, half full of water with a hose pumping out the rest of the water.

 

“Tony!” Steve spotted him with a bottle in his hand. His arms spread wide trying to balance along the edge. “Tony stop that you’re going to fall” Steve didn’t make any sudden moves as he made his way over he could see by the way Tony kept stumbling that in the time it had taken Steve to track him down he had become quite drunk.

 

“What do you want Steve?” Tony spat, he was slurring his words and his eyes were drooping with the effects of the alcohol.

 

“I wanted to make sure you were okay” Steve added cautiously, he didn’t want to upset Tony any more.

 

“As you can see I’m fine!” Tony’s foot slipped off the edge but he managed to right himself back and continue walking the line.

 

“Tony please come away from the pool” Steve was getting really nervous now.

 

“I’m fine…” Tony began but the sudden turn to face Steve was enough to knock him completely off balance and fall back into the deep end of the pool hitting the water with a loud thwack spraying what little water was left into the air.

 

“Tony!” Steve raced to the edge of the pool his heart pounding, he looked down into the dark water and spotted Tony on his back the bottle now discarded and floating in the water. “Tony, are you okay?” Steve shouted trying to get some response from him. The small groan was enough to tell Steve he was still alive at least. Steve hesitated before lowering himself down the edge of the pool into the water that once in the pool only came up to his thigh. The water splashed up his body as he rushed to grab Tony.

 

“Tony!” Steve grabbed Tony up from the water and held him up against his body; another groan escaped his lips muffled as his head flopped into Steve’s chest. “Lets get you out of here” Steve was relieved but couldn’t hold the thought for long as he lifted Tony over his shoulder and walked to the ladder.

 

Enough time slamming into big strong lads had helped Steve gain enough strength to be able to lift himself and Tony up the short ladder back to solid ground. He leant Tony against a wall nearby and slumped down next to him. Tony’s eyes were open and the deep sigh was enough to remind Steve that he was conscious and okay.

 

“You never had any intention of telling them” It wasn’t a question and Steve didn’t really have the forethought to be annoyed by it he was just relieved that Tony was talking to him.

 

“What are you doing here?” Steve asked

 

“I stupidly thought we could maybe be together” Tony hung his head playing with the hem of his sleeve that was dripping wet.

 

“I said I’d tell them…in my own time”

 

“Your own time! When exactly? You’re ashamed of me, tell me the truth!” Tony snapped, Steve couldn’t help the instinct of his hand reaching out to him but was quickly smacked away by Tony.

 

“I’m far from ashamed of you Tony! Do you even know how amazing you are? Damn it Tony, I spend my days in the company of morons and idiots and then you come into my life and you make these incredible machines and you’re funny and full of life…” Steve hadn’t intended to pour his heart out like that but it seemed to be working because Tony’s featured softened and he even shuffled closer to him.

 

“Then why don’t you tell them?” Tony wasn’t angry anymore his anger had been replaced by pure hurt.

 

“It’s not as simple for me as it is for you, you’re eccentric and colourful and mad” Steve chuckled to reassure Tony that although they sounded offensive he was actually very fond of those traits. “But that’s why I love you” Steve’s voice hitched in his throat as he said the words he’d been wanting to say since he first saw who Tony really was.

 

“You love me?” Tony had a smirk on his face.

 

“Well…I mean…yeah” Steve was a stuttering mess as Tony laughed. “Why are you laughing?” Steve couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

 

“I’m in shock…the star football player and most popular guy in school is in love with little ole me!” Tony was teasing him but the warmth in his voice told Steve he didn’t mean it.

 

“Alright I know it’s a bit sappy…but I’m being honest here” Steve waved his hands around getting a little irritated with the teasing.

 

“Steve, its okay…I love you too” Tony’s voice softened and he stopped laughing looking Steve straight in the eye.

 

“You do?”  


“Of course I do…and I’m sorry I thought you and that cheerleader were, you know” Tony raised his eyebrows insinuating the worst. Steve burst out laughing at the ridiculous man beside him.

 

“She’s just trying to get back at Obadiah” Steve put his hand over Tony’s knee feeling his leg shiver under the cold wet fabric. “You’re shivering” Steve suddenly sounded concerned again.

 

“I’m fine” Tony sounded tired as he rested his head on Steve’s shoulder.

 

Looking around Steve spotted a pool house not far away from where they were sitting and decided to try and move Tony, wrapping his arm around Tony’s back and lifting him up so he was standing but supporting his weight.

 

“Let’s get you inside where its warm” Steve manoeuvred them both over to the pool house and entered the small room that contained a large corner sofa that took up most of the space with a mini fridge tucked in the back beside a television stand and TV. He didn’t waste any time locking the door behind them and getting Tony comfy on the sofa before joining him. It didn’t take either of them long to fall asleep, Tony leaning on Steve’s shoulder and Steve resting his head atop of Tony’s. Steve had never felt more content in his life before this moment.


	9. Think of your future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating this for such a long time! I've been extraordinarily busy trying to find another job and focusing on my new hobby, which takes up quite a bit of my time. I've not really had time to update any of my longer stories. 
> 
> I will hopefully get this finished soon, please stick with me.

* * *

 

 

The weight leaving his shoulder was enough to stir Steve awake. He blinked his eyes open and scanned the small room. The light was shining brightly through the windows and the silhouette of Tony was casting a shadow over him.

 

“Morning” Tony’s voice was quieter than usual he almost sounded nervous.

 

“Morning, how are you feeling?” Steve suddenly remembered the night before, diving into the pool to get Tony out and how intoxicated he was.

 

“Bit of a headache, but suppose I’ve only got myself to blame for that” Tony scoffed.

 

“Or me…” Steve muttered, hesitantly he looked up to see Tony’s reaction.

 

Tony shuffled awkwardly on his feet, if he heard the comment he was ignoring it. He attempted to beat the crinkles out of his shirt where the water from the pool had dried.

 

“We should get going really you’ve got practice and I have some stuff to do so…” Tony was mumbling but he didn’t care he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, he was already embarrassed for making a fool of himself last night.

 

Steve glanced at his watch jumping up in surprise when he realised how late it was. “Shit, I was supposed to be at practice an hour ago”.

 

“We better get going then” Tony hovered in front of Steve not really sure what to do with himself suddenly feeling very awkward. “Um…about last night…”

 

“Forget it!” Steve cut in with a smile. Tony smiled back in response letting his shoulders relax as he released the tension he didn’t even know was building up inside him.

 

“Thank you…” Tony whispered smiling up at Steve, who took his face in his hands and placed a gentle kiss to his lips.

 

“Lets go” Steve smiled a bright Steve Rogers beam as he led the way out of the pool house. They snuck around the side of the house climbing over the side gate. Neither of them wanted to face Obadiah and although Steve was secretly hoping he had already gone to practice he didn’t want to take any chances.

 

………………………………………………………..

 

Steve and Tony had parted ways at the front of school with the promise of meeting up later before the big game. Steve wasn’t even feeling nervous about it, despite the fact that this would be his last chance to prove himself as a good enough player to the college scouts. Steve had been working for a scholarship since he began playing football in his freshman year. His natural talent for the game had only improved over the years where he was now playing at a professional skill level, or so the coach kept telling him.

 

Steve held a lot of respect for coach Stark because he was his coach and he had helped him grow and develop so much. However, a part of Steve couldn’t help but think of Tony and his father’s harsh words or the way he shoved his son to the ground without a second thought. The image of Tony being hurt made his blood run hot as the rage boiled inside him.

 

As soon as Steve reached the field the nerves hit him. The sight of the stands looming over him, knowing that in a few hours they would be filled with people, including scouts from some of the top colleges all of them there to watch him.

 

What if they don’t win, what if the scouts decide they don’t want him. These thoughts were flooding his mind and Steve was struggling to stay above the water line just so he could breath.

 

“Rogers! Where the hell have you been? Get your ass on this field now!” Howard Stark’s sharp voice roared across the field and Steve didn’t have any more time to worry about the thoughts in his head he needed to get moving.

 

…………………………………………………………….

 

Tony had spent the day worry biting his thumb making it red raw and painful. Although they had smoothed things over the night before, he couldn’t help but worry about the onslaught that would be coming their way as soon as Obadiah or his father got wind of their relationship.

 

Admittedly Tony had wanted everyone to know or at least for Steve and him to be open enough about it that they could walk down the corridor hand in hand without speculation. He wasn’t going to push Steve about it today thought, he had enough on his mind with the game.

 

Tony had been waiting by the locker rooms for Steve, they had arranged to meet before the game. Steve was the last to leave the locker room, Tony had ducked behind a corner while he waited for the rest of the jocks to make their way to the field.

 

“Steve”, Tony whispered catching Steve’s attention.

 

“Hey, I cant stop I got to get going” Steve began to walk away without even turning to look at Tony.

 

“Wait, Steve” Chasing after him Tony grabbed him by the arm.

 

“Tony I have to go I cant talk about this now” Steve paused realising what he’d said.

 

“Talk about what?”

 

“Tony…” He took a deep breath hanging his head low before continuing. “I’m about to head out there into the biggest game of my life so far, there are scouts out there watching me and I need to be at my best…I cant do that with you around” Steve found walking away to be the hardest thing he’s ever done and he didn’t expect to be dragged back.

 

“What’s gotten into you?” Tony asked his eyes already brimming with tears.

 

“I cant be with you Tony don’t you get that” Steve didn’t want to snap but it was hard for him to do this, he was breaking Tony’s heart but destroying his own in the process.

 

“My father got to you didn’t he?” Tony took a step back with surprise in his eyes.

 

“It’s not about that! Damn it Tony don’t you get it? There has never been a gay football player! No college is going to pick up a gay football player!” Steve let it all out, he had let Howard Stark get inside his head.

 

………………………………………………………………..

 

_“Rogers! I need a word” Howard Stark pulled Steve to one side as the team jogged back to the locker rooms._

_“What’s up coach?”_

_“I’ve heard…rumblings…and I’m worried” Howard’s voice was a low whisper._

_“Rumblings, sir?”_

_“Look you’re a good kid Rogers, I’ve always thought of you almost like a son, I want to see you succeed…” Howard paused._

_“I don’t understand?”_  


_“I’m simply warning you, no college will sign a player who keeps questionable company” Howard raised his eyebrows suggesting everything in his look, Steve’s blood ran cold and he could feel his heart slow beating hard in his chest._

_“Sir, what are you suggesting?” Steve turned to watch Howard walking away, he simply turned and looked directly at Steve with malice in his voice._

_“Have you ever heard of a gay football player? Hmm?” Howard wasn’t asking really he was planting the seed of doubt and it had well and truly taken root._

_………………………………………………………_

“What did my father say to you?” Tony snapped back his voice shaking and the tears that stung his eyes were full of fury.

 

“It’s not about him! This is about my future and I cant put that on hold for some high school fling” that stung more than anything he’d said so far. Steve couldn’t even look at Tony he wanted to run as fast as he could to get far away from here from the pressures of everyone around him.

 

“You’re a coward Steve Rogers, I was right about you!” Tony barged past him knocking himself into his shoulder on purpose to knock him off balance.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“I thought, stupidly thought, for a split second that there was more to you than just some dumb jock…I thought maybe this was real, that it wasn’t just going to end up like some cliché high school drama and that you’d be the exception to the rule!” Tony’s words were laced with cruelty but he didn’t care he was too hurt to care.

 

“You don’t mean that” Steve was the one crying now the tables had well and truly turned.

 

“I thought I knew you…but turns out you’re just like the rest of them” Tony’s voice softened enough for Steve to understand exactly what he meant. He was comparing him to Obadiah.

 

“I’m not him!” Steve’s voice broke as the tears fell.

 

“No…you’re worse” and with that final act of brutality Tony walked away.


	10. Back to where I used to be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this story, I haven't forgotten it I promise I've just been incredibly busy lately and haven't found any time for writing anything really, apart from the short one-shot here and there but even thats become tricky. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this short chapter I will be writing the next part of the narrative tonight so hopefully that will go up some time soon.

Tony made his way to the stands, the roar of the crowd was almost deafening but it distracted him from the sound of his breaking heart. He excused himself as he pushed past people in the crowd, earning himself a few grumbles and ‘Jerk’ comments as he went. Eventually he spotted Pepper in one of the middle rows she had already settled into her seat with a bag of popcorn and a large drink sitting beside her feet. 

“Tony! Where the hell have you been, the games already started” The crowd around him stood up and one particularly large guy with a body odour problem elbowed him as he jumped to his feet. 

Tony watched the field intently scanning the helmets and flashes of blue and red uniform to find the one person he so desperately didn’t want to walk away from.   
Pepper was right, the game was in full swing the players scattered across the grass eyeing each other up when one lone runner came speeding down the right side of the field. The insignificant object that held so much value in this game held tightly in Steve’s arms as he bashed the oncoming assault from the opposing team. He sprinted to the final mark jumping over a stray leg that attempted to trip him at the last minute, slamming the ball down over the line the crowd erupted into cheers and screams. Sweaty guy elbowed Tony once again knocking him from the prison that had become his own mind. 

“Tony, you okay? You’re not cheering him on” Pepper shouted over the loud roars of the crowd. 

“I cant do this, I have to get out of here I’m sorry” Tony sprang to his feet knocking the jumbo sized cup of soda all over large sweaty man. 

“What the hell, you jerk!” The man arose to his full height towering over Tony, however, where once Tony would have recoiled in fear waiting for the blow to strike his face or his stomach, this time he merely muttered an apology to the man as if he were but a passing strange he’d accidently brushed against. He made his way down the line. He was drowning out the abusive yells from the man he’d soaked and equally letting the calls from Pepper and the crowd slowly sink away behind him. 

Tony’s legs automatically took him around the side of the field around the back out of sight of anyone currently focused on the game. He made his way up the abandoned set of stairs and before his mind could agree his legs had carried him all the way to the top and into the hidden premium box that was now run down and discarded. This was where Steve had found him the day his dad shouted at him for asking for a ride home. The moment Tony had found a friend and even more in Steve Rogers, captain of the football team and all round popular jock. 

How had it gone so wrong? Tony entered the room sending a fresh layer of dust billowing up through the room, the sunlight shone through each individual spec making it dance like insects across a lake. 

Tony’s heart ached to be back on that day, the day everything changed not only for him but also for the whole dynamic of the school eco-system. Before he knew Steve, properly knew him, Tony saw him as the worlds biggest A-hole. Not exactly poetic, he thought, but he used to watch Steve, Obi and their gaggle of so called friends, ram into smaller kids in the corridor and pretend they hadn’t seen them. He would watch and hide from his place at the back of the library as Obadiah left toilet paper and lemonade dripping from Clint’s bag, making it look like he had wet himself. Kids were cruel but jocks were the epitome of what a true bully was. Tony feared for his own safety every time he stepped out into the vast open corridors that seemed to stretch beyond view, littered with traps and dangers he would have to face just to reach the door at the other end. 

Looking back on those memories the past few weeks with Steve, Tony had begun to think that maybe it wasn’t Steve, maybe all those times he thought he saw him bully another kid what he was really seeing was the mob mentality. He saw what he needed to see as a scared insignificant afterthought in a jocks mind. In reality Tony had been so wrong, he had seen Obadiah pour the bubbling liquid into Clint’s bag and Obadiah was the one who knocked into all those kids in the corridor, Steve standing right beside him. Maybe Steve was the anomaly in his hypothesis, the one abstract result that threw all the other statistics out of whack. He was the weak leak in the schools chain of hierarchy. 

At least that’s what Tony thought, his mind had well and truly been changed a concept he never thought would become a reality. Steve changed his entire life in the space of a few weeks he not only found a friend but he found existence in the black hole that had consumed Tony’s mind and soul. 

It all exploded back into the black hole when Steve had bumped into him in the corridor, Tony’s world was back to where it began, alone, afraid and in pain. Only this time the pain was buried in his chest a dull ache unlike anything he’d ever felt from his father’s backhand.


	11. Heard the news?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm nearly done! Wow only taken me since christmas but I'm almost finished writing this, just got to write the last chapter which is the big one and I'm done! 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has commented and liked the story so far and for sticking with me on this, I know I've been a bit rubbish at uploading but I hope its been worth the wait. 
> 
> In the mean time cause again I'm not sure how long it'll be until I get the final chapter out, here are two little chapters to keep you going.

The bell dinged above his head as the door opened. The cold simulated air from the AC machine billowed into his face. The summer had arrived quickly and without warning making the days almost too hot to cope with.

 

“Do my eyes deceive me? Is that Mr Tony Stark I see before me?” Pepper was sitting on top of the desk sorting through a pile or records sticking labels on them as she went.

 

“You’re so funny, has anyone ever told you that?” Tony replied his tone full of sarcasm.

 

“But seriously where the hell have you been? Its been weeks, I’ve tried calling you. You disappeared after the game you didn’t even stick around to see who won!” Pepper put down the record in her hand and paid her full attention to her friend that had decided to show his face.

 

“I know who won thanks, its been plastered all over school” Tony was bitter when talking about the game and he didn’t really want to be reminded about it. He refused to look at Pepper as he strolled through the store feigning interest in the items for sale.

 

“What’s going on?” She suddenly tuned serious her tone made her sound like an angry parent asking why their kid had missed curfew.

 

“Nothing is going on, just not felt like I needed to be around people” Tony spat the word like it was filth in his mouth.

 

“This is about Steve Rogers?” Pepper wasn’t really asking.

 

Tony snapped his head back to Pepper looking at her for the first time since he came into the store.

 

“This has nothing to do with him!”

 

“You keep telling yourself that!” Pepper snapped back, she sighed deeply after a moment settling her temper and slightly regretting her outburst, she knew Tony must be hurting, even if she didn’t know exactly what went on between the two boys. “I’m sorry Tony, I didn’t mean to snap, but I’ve been worried about you” Tony lowered his gaze trying to hide the tears that threatened to fall.

 

“There’s no need to worry about me” The sadness in his voice spoke volumes to Pepper, behind the obvious statement there was his none-existent relationship with his father seeping through.

 

Pepper paused opening her mouth to say something but immediately changed her mind, she needed to move the conversation away from Steve Rogers and besides in her hesitation Tony had lost interest and distracted himself with some new vinyls on the sale rack.

 

The pair settled into comfortable silence, Pepper returned to her task and Tony rooting through the music trying to find something new to listen to. It was a frequent occurrence in their friendship, when Pepper knew Tony needed his space away from his problems, i.e. his father, he would seek out her company but his silence told her he needed her presence rather than her advice.

 

The bell above the door broke the silence and the new arrival made their presence known.

 

“Sup bitches! You heard the news? ” Clint gripped the edge of the desk and slid up next to Pepper who ignored him sighing with extreme exaggeration.

 

“What news?” She huffed at him.

 

“The big news! I have a date to prom!” Clint proclaimed proudly puffing out his chest as if he were superman.

 

“We don’t care” Pepper deadpanned.

 

“You’ll care when you hear what other news I have” He wiggled his eyebrows at Pepper.

 

Tony meanwhile kept his back turned to the pair but was listening in none the less.

 

“Just tell us already!” Pepper snapped with more malice than she wanted to.

 

“A certain Captain is taking Natasha Romanov to the Prom” Clint said this like it was a good thing, Tony meanwhile had frozen flipping through the records.

 

“Clint!” Pepper hissed glaring at him whilst flipping her head towards Tony.

 

“Shit! Tony man I’m so sorry, I totally forgot I just got wrapped up in the whole gossip thing I didn’t mean to…” Clint jumped off the desk but didn’t dare make any sort of approach.

 

“It’s okay, I mean who else was he going to take. He’s the Captain of the football team and star quarterback player, of course he was going to go to prom with the head cheerleader its got cliché high school written all over it!” Tony swiped his hand across the pile of records sending a few from the top flying across the floor.

 

The three best friends stood in silence, the tension surrounding the room like a thick fog that had descended over them. Clint studied his feet with great interest, Pepper didn’t move, her knuckles white from where she was gripping the desk. Tony’s eyes brimmed with tears as a ripple went through his clenched jaw.

 

The bell over the door chimed across the store once more, sending a metaphorical rip through the fog.

 

Clint and Pepper turned to see the new arrivals that dared to intrude on their privacy.

 

“Ugh, Tony” Clint’s voice was rough and full of warning.

 

Tony didn’t move, he didn’t have to he knew. The shrill laugh that came to a sudden abrupt halt was enough to tell him that Natasha had just walked in.

 

“Oh, are we interrupting” Natasha’s voice was full of underlying malice as she scanned the people in the shop.

 

“No, come on in” Pepper was after all running a business. She couldn’t turn them away just because they were popular.

 

“Great!” Natasha began laughing and pulled her companion further into the shop wandering down the first row of records. This allowed for her entourage of cheerleaders and a few of the boys from the football team to follow them inside.

 

“Why?” Tony’s voice ripped through the store stopping everyone in their tracks and startling Pepper enough that she finally got down from the desk sensing that perhaps things were about to kick off.

 

“Excuse me?” Natasha looked like she had been spat on the way she stared wide-eyed at Tony. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

 

“That’s right! How foolish of me to think you’d have any idea who I am!” Tony snapped, he had turned to face them with both hands gripping the edge of the table behind him for physical and emotional support.

 

“Tony please don’t do this” Steve who had entered on Natasha’s arm unlinked from the death grip she had on him pleading with his eyes as he took a step forward.

 

“You have no clout here, Rogers, so just back up” The way Tony’s eyes burned into Steve made his stomach sink to the floor and his heart jump into his throat. The small step Steve took back felt like he was jumping across a gorge.

 

“Tony” Pepper’s attempt at any diffusion was soon shut down.

 

“Don’t defend him Pepper, they have no right to be here, so what the hell do you want?” Tony snapped switching his glare from one person to the next in quick succession.

 

“We need some music for prom” Natasha was feeling smug, how foolish she was.

 

“Of course you do, you know what princess I don’t think there is anything in here that is remotely of interest to your tiny uncultured little mind, best head back to the mall where you belong, okay” Tony pushed himself of the table and turned his back to the now thoroughly shocked and offended cheerleader.

 

“Excuse me!”

 

“You heard me, now get out” Tony’s voice was low and the underlying growl that came with it was enough to scare Natasha off.

 

“Fine, this place is full of dust anyway, you’re pathetic you know that Stark” her final retort meant nothing to Tony and barely brushed against his hardened exterior.

 

“Steve you coming?” Natasha asked from the door turning back when Steve failed to even make a move towards the door.

 

“Tony…”

 

“Get out” Tony didn’t shout merely whispered, his teeth pressed so close together he could feel the pain through his face.

 

Steve didn’t wait for a second invitation as he cautiously made his way out the store instantly diffusing the tension with his retreat. Tony’s small success today meant nothing to him when the pain in his chest was so strong it drowned out any other sensation that tried to push its way to the surface.

 

……………………………………………………………………

 

Tony had managed to calm down, enough so that the anger that had built up at the sight of Steve had subsided. All that was left were the tears and the heart ache.

 

He had stormed off almost as soon as Steve had rounded the corner out of sight. His destination, the store cupboard at the back of Peppers shop where she kept the unpopular stock that hadn’t sold and its also where the only working toilet was, if you could call it working. Tony curled his knees tighter against his chest as the tears turned into harsh sobbing, his breathing was thick like he couldn’t muster up enough air to intake a breath.

 

Pepper knew better than to pester him right after the altercation with Steve but she also knew her friend needed her. She tapped lightly at the door to the toilet knowing full well it was unlocked but not wanting to intrude in case she hadn’t left him enough time to calm down.

 

“Tony? You ready to talk about it?” Pepper gently pushed the door open and her heart stopped at the pitiful scene before her.

 

“I don’t want to talk about it” Tony spoke through sharp intakes of air through the sobs.

 

“Alright then, what do you want to do?” She knew him well enough that he wasn’t one for talking. Tony was more of a doer. Its why Tony was so skilled with his machines, instead of expressing his emotions he channelled them into his work.

 

“I want a suit” Tony stopped crying inhaling deeply as the tears halted.

 

“I think I can help with that” Pepper smirked holding out her hand.


	12. Nice closet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've put some pictures at the end of this chapter so you can get an idea of what sort of suit design I was thinking of.

“Jesus Pepper, how far back does this closet go” Tony was rummaging through piles of brightly coloured clothes. For a girl who dressed so conservatively you wouldn’t think she had a wardrobe full of some of the wackiest items Tony had ever seen. “When do you even wear any of these?” Tony laughed pulling out a swede jacket with lush flowers embroidered in gold, pink and red down the sleeves and across the back. Sliding it off the hanger and putting his arms in he twirled putting on a performance for his friend who was currently rooting through an old trunk full of more fabric and bits of scrap clothing.

 

“They mostly all belonged to my mother, she left them to me in her will, think she was trying to tell me something” Pepper shouted from the other room.

 

“She wanted you to loosen up,” Tony teased. He was feeling better for hanging out with Pepper. Sometimes a bit of home retail therapy was all he needed.

 

“Very funny Stark, now try this on” She appeared in the doorway of the large walk in closet throwing a button up shirt at Tony, it landed directly on his head.

 

Tony pulled the shirt over his white vest he had stripped down to in order to try stuff on.

 

“Why you doing this Tony? Going to prom I mean?” Pepper watched him carefully.

 

“I got to show them they haven’t beaten me” Tony flattened out the front of the shirt his fingers tracing the grey lines that were sewn down one side of the shirt as a design feature. “Pepper you know you said you weren’t going to ever wear any of this stuff, can I maybe have these?” Tony picked up the embroidered jacket holding it to his chest almost protectively.

 

“Of course, anything…it’s yours” Pepper smiled warmly at him. “Wait! I have something that’ll be perfect for you, don’t go anywhere” She darted off frantically into the back of the closet into what appeared to be a separate section at the back that Tony had completely missed on first inspection.

 

“Pepper…”

 

“Just wait, now this was my fathers he only wore it once so I’m sure he wont mind you using it” She held out a clear bag containing a well-preserved suit.

 

The suit was plain in style it was a fitted dark red jacket and pants with a black lining in the jacket that seemed to have white thread swirling throughout in an delicate design. Tony’s mind raced with possibility, he was good with his hands and he was even better with a sewing machine.

 

“I can really have this?” Tony asked carefully taking the bag from his friend.

 

“Sure, even if you don’t go to prom, it’ll be interesting to see what you do with it” Pepper smirked knowing exactly what she was doing. “Take the others as well I’m sure you’ll come up with something”.

 

“Thank you, Pepper, you’re amazing”

 

“I know” She smugly replied picking up the rest of the clothes he’d picked out and dumping them in his arms. “Now get going, prom is tomorrow night”.

 

………………………………………………………….

 

 

Back at home Tony laid out the suit on his bed unzipping it from its wrapping, he took a moment to take in the material it was a soft fabric that felt thin to the touch but was re-enforced with the lining. He grabbed his backpack off the floor and pulled out the rest of the stuff he’d taken from Peppers.

 

“You going to help me dummi or am I doing this myself?” Tony remarked at the semi-functioning robotic arm at the end of the bed. It bleeped at him in response.

 

“Right you sort this lot out I’ll set up the sewing machine, we’ve got some work to do” Tony handed the jacket to the arm and began busying himself with the machine. He only had 24 hours till prom.

 

 

 


	13. Big reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has a chat with his father before heading out to the prom

Tony slid the jacket over his arms and brushed off the lapels admiring his handy work in the mirror. Dummi nodded up and down in some form of approval of his master’s attire.

 

“You like it?” Dummi nodded the metal grip up and down. “Okay good, shit what’s the time I have to go pick up Pepper” Tony dived across the bed grabbing his car keys and frantically checking the clock in the process before darting out the room waving goodbye to his robot buddy. “See you later dummi”.

 

Tony skidded to a halt near the front door when he father appeared from the kitchen holding a beer in his hand.

 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Howard snarled looking his son up and down.

 

“Out…” Tony didn’t want to do this with his dad, not today.

 

“You’re going to prom!” Howard spluttered a laugh sending spit over Tony’s suit.

 

Taking a step back from the splash zone Tony wiped off the spit with a blood red coloured hanky from his top pocket and carefully folding it back into place.

 

“I’m going to prom I have a right just like everyone else” Tony deadpanned.

 

“Yeah but I mean come on Tony lets be real here, you aren’t exactly popular at that school, what makes you think those kids wont be cruel to you tonight as well” Howard remarked with something close to concern in his eyes but it was gone with a blink.

 

“I don’t care what they think of me dad, I don’t care what you think of me! I know you don’t approve because I’m gay…you know what not even just that, you are ashamed to call me your son not because I’m gay, yeah that’s a part of it, but honestly its because I didn’t want to play football and live your dreams!” Howard stuttered as if he was going to reply to Tony’s outburst but nothing came out. “You would rather someone like Steve Rogers be your son, at least then you’d have the perfect son who could live the dream and take care of your sorry ass for the rest of his life” Tony took a step towards his dad who tried everything he could to make himself look taller in the face of his son.

 

“I’m not going to lie to you Tony you being gay its been a problem for me, why couldn’t you have just been a normal kid at least until college! You being the way you are, the whole crazy outfit thing the robots everything it just made you a target from day one and reflected badly on me!” Howard sounded sincere but no amount of fake love now was going to make up for the years of torment, Tony thought.

 

“Always the self obsessed jock, all you care about it your image, you don’t care that you’ve made my life a misery…all I ever wanted was for you to be proud of me, just once” Tony’s eyes shone with tears.

 

“I am proud of you Tony! I was only hard on you because I thought it would toughen you up, I was wrong and I’m so sorry” Tony couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

 

“It’s too late for sorry, dad!”

 

“I thought by beating you down it would make you stronger, but I realised that I was just beating you into the mould I’d created for you…you broke that mould Tony and I couldn’t be prouder of you for that…I only wish now you could forgive me, now I don’t expect it to be right away I know I’ve done wrong by you for a long time now…but things are going to change, it’ll be different from here on”

 

“I…I don’t know what to say” Tony stuttered, his hands rubbing together with all the stress and emotion running through him at his fathers words.

 

“You don’t have to say anything right now, you’re going to be late to the party so just go but promise me you’ll think about it”

 

“How can I trust you after all  you've done, you even threatened Steve to get him away from me!”

 

“I told him that no college would want a gay football player, which is true, football is a tough world and it’s not all that tolerant” Howard explained.

 

“You know what Howard you got your perfect football star cause he’s going to hide who he is now and ruin his life!”

 

“What? No, Tony, Steve got offered a place at UCLA but he said he would take it if they could'nt accept the fact he was gay…Tony…they took him on anyway, said it would look good for the school to have a gay player” Tony almost didn’t believe him and his heart clenched at the idea that Steve had actually come out to someone other than him.

 

“He what?”

 

“Go ask him yourself, he’s probably waiting for you at the prom” Tony stood in silence his mind wandering to all the things that had happened between them since the final game. Could his father be telling the truth? Or was he just spinning some line to torture him, but what would he gain from that?

 

“Tony…go!” Howard snapped him back to reality and Tony beamed a huge smile at his father and darted out the door.

 

……………………………………………………..

 

 

It hadn’t taken him long to get down to the record shop he was running a few minutes late thanks to the talk with his dad. Pepper was standing outside when he arrived looking up and down the street for him. He pulled up next to her jumping out the driver’s side so he could go hold the door open for her and also take in her incredible dress.

 

“Pepper, you look amazing!” Tony froze at the sight of her in her long deep red dress to match Tony’s suit. The top half of the dress was covered in shimmering sequins that spread down into the flowing skirt to give a dripping effect almost like they were stars falling from the sky.

 

“Thank you, Tony that suit its incredible!” She ran her fingers hesitantly over his lapel taking in the fine embroidered detailing.

 

Tony spun around on the spot to show off his creation.

 

The suit jacket had been made up of two jackets and an old waistcoat that belonged to his dad. The gold and silver orchids and roses were embroidered all across the blood red shimmery jacket, a line running down each sleeve that wrapped across the back up to his shoulders. He wore simple black smart trousers with gold trim down the legs leading to the black and red leather pointed shoes. His shirt underneath was, in true Tony style, an explosion of red roses with silver vines covering the black canvas of the shirt. His hear was slicked at the sides with hair gel and curled into a twist on top and Pepper noticed the subtle hint of silver glitter that ran through the dark curls.

 

“You’re going to blow him away dressed like that” She couldn’t help the swell of pride she felt towards his best friend.

 

“That’s the plan” Tony huffed out a nervous breath, Pepper didn’t think he realised just how incredible he looked.


	14. Prom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its been a while but we are so close to the finish line! I've been super busy lately and had little to no time for writing.

They had to walk down the long empty corridor to get to the sports hall where prom was in full swing. Tony could hear the music drifting down corridor echoing off the walls. He grabbed Peppers hand and squeezed tight, he was nervous about seeing Steve again and knowing that he was about to face all his demons in one room. 

“You okay?” Pepper squeezed back reassuringly.

“Lets just get this over with” Tony hadn’t planned on staying long, he was going to make an entrance show his face.

“We don’t have to stay remember” Pepper lead him down the hall until they were stood in front of the double doors leading to the party.

“I just want to let them know they didn’t break me” Tony sighed deeply taking in all the breath he can muster settling his nerves slightly. “Lets do this”, Tony had a determined look on his face as he indicated to Pepper to open the doors. 

……………………………………………….

 

Steve sipped his punch, wincing at the sharp alcoholic taste that hit his taste buds. Someone had obviously spiked early on in the party. He pushed the offensive drink away and slouched into his chair. The party was in full swing around him, couples dancing on the dance floor and groups of friends were chatting around him. Steve however, was sitting alone. 

He hadn’t really spoken to anyone since his argument with Tony or since they won the game. His heart couldn’t take it he was feeling sick with all the thoughts and feelings running through him. 

Steve was shook from his thoughts at the sound of the doors opening nearby. 

………………………………………………

Tony walked in side by side with Pepper his head held high and his nervous tucked out of sight out of mind replaced with a glowing confidence he didn’t know he had. 

The few people sitting by the door turned and looked in amazement at Tony’s entrance but Tony wasn’t trying to impress them. He scanned the room looking for the blue eyes of Steve. 

“Stop looking for him, let him find you” Pepper whispered as they stood awkwardly in the entrance wondering what they should do, what does one do at a prom? Tony wondered. 

“Should we dance?” Tony asked after a moment of silence fell between them. 

Before Pepper could answer a figure approached them and cut them both off. 

…………………………………………………….

Steve’s heart jumped into his throat at the sight of Tony, he was stunning, his eyes were glued to the figure standing across the room. Everything seemed to blur as his heart raced. Before he knew what he was doing he was making his way over there, his legs carrying him the short distance across the room. 

A hand on his shoulder stopped him, the sight of Tony cruelly cut away as Obie stood in his path. 

“You know you gotta give him some credit though, after you dumped him he went out and found himself an interesting alternative I must say…” Obie began brushing the, none existent, flecks off Steve’s jacket. Steve saw red grabbing his grubby hand slapping it away. 

“Obie!...” Steve paused, his eyes widening at the realisation his mind was coming to. “You bully everyone Obie, you get what you want through intimidation, but you couldn’t get him! That’s what’s killing you isn’t it?” 

“Listen..” Obie tried to cut him off but Steve continued. 

“That’s it! He thinks you’re shit, and deep down you know he’s right” Steve walked away not allowing Obie to even react to what he’d just said. Even if he did react Steve wasn’t about to stick around to see it. 

………………………………………………………..

Tony’s breath caught as he stood still, Pepper had created an almost physical barrier between him and Steve but allowing Tony the option to approach. 

“Hi” Steve didn’t know what to say just as much as Tony didn’t. 

“Hi” Tony awkwardly smiled, part of him wanted to beam at the sight of Steve but then the nagging in the back of his mind reminded him how hurt he was. 

“You don’t need me to say I’m sorry” 

“Its done, its over with…I’m fine” Tony studied his shoes for a moment trying to avoid showing the tears in his eyes. 

“If that’s true then I’m glad” Steve didn’t believe it not for one second. 

“It’s not true, but it doesn’t matter now does it” Tony’s soft nature was showing through. 

“You said once that we couldn’t be friend, that we couldn’t break the moulds that society had made for us…but we did Tony, we broke every high school cliché going. I believed in you Tony, you just didn’t believe in me.” Steve was pouring out his heart. He couldn’t cope with his heart breaking again so he did the next best thing to protect himself he left. “I love you!” Steve leant close as he passed Tony letting his fingers cautiously brush the back of his hair kissing his cheek. “Always” Steve whispered before raking his fingers through his hair as he pulled away and left. 

Tony didn’t turn around, he didn’t want to see Steve walk away again. 

“You know he came here alone, Tony” Pepper nodded at the empty table he had come from, “He also turned down a scholarship after telling the rep he was gay” Pepper informed him, this got Tony’s attention more than the fact Steve had come to prom alone. 

“You were right from the start, he’s not like the others” Pepper continued. Tony just watched her with interest. “If you don’t go to him now, I’ll never bring you to another prom again you hear me, this is a very romantic moment and you’re ruining it for me” Pepper laughed taking Tony’s hands into her own and squeezing gently. 

Tony couldn’t hold back the laugh as he beamed at his best friend, pulling her in for a tight hug. 

“Thank you Pepper” Tony whispered as he pulled away, Pepper nodded at the door.

“Go on” She pressed and Tony ran off smiling leaving Pepper to scan the room for someone she knew. It didn’t take her long to spot Clint over by the punch bowl sliding a shiny metal object from his pocket with a suspicious look on his face. She rolled her eyes and made a b-line for the punch bowl. 

…………………………………………………………

 

Tony ran down the corridor as fast as he could the entrance of the school in sight he slammed through the doors not allowing time to slow down for the steps as he flew down them. 

The car park was full of cars but void of people, all but one shadow sitting alone on a bench next to car park. 

“Steve!” Tony shouted getting the shadows attentions he stood up and turned to face the approaching man. 

“Tony?” Steve was surprised to see him he didn’t know what to think. 

Tony didn’t even give an explanation before he practically threw himself on Steve, his arms wrapping around his neck going in for a sloppy kiss. Once Steve managed to compose himself and realise what was happening he slowly reciprocated allowing himself to fall softly into Tony’s lips. They turned their heads as their lips crashed together trying to find a perfect balance. They had to catch the air after what felt like forever, Tony reluctantly pulled away first. 

“I forgot to tell you, I love you too” Tony smirked pulling him in for another kiss this time slower and better planned. “To the beach?” Tony asked smirking. 

“To the beach!” Steve responded with a quick kiss.


	15. Epilogue

Tony let his feet slide into the sand his shoes all but forgotten next to the campfire that had slowly been burning since they arrived. Steve was flicking the sand between his toes beside Tony their fingers entwined. The sun had long since set and was actually closer to rising at this point. 

The sound of a truck pulling up on the car park a few hundred yards away drew Steve’s attention turning back to see who had arrived. 

Bucky jumped out the driver’s side followed by Clint and Pepper out of the back. Steve watched them all in various stages of dressed up slide down the slope onto the beach. Bucky had abandoned his jacket in the car, Clint had his slung over his shoulder and was drinking straight from a metal flask. Pepper immediately slid her shoes off and ran through the sand towards them. 

“You boys ready for the real party to begin?” She flung her arms over Steve and Tony’s shoulder pulling them in tight. 

“Campfires going the beer is on ice, lets do this” Steve scrunched his face up laughing as he untangled himself from the pair and made his way to the cooler full of beer. 

The others started settling in, Clint dragged a large log across from the bushes so they had something to sit on and Pepper was burying her feet in the sand. 

They were laughing and carrying on for over an hour before they suddenly realised someone was missing from their little party.

“Where’s Bucky?” Steve sat up on the log looking around the dark beach in the hopes of spotting his friend in the moonlight. 

“Over here amigo!” Bucky shouted from behind them, he was up by the truck holding a large box in his arms.

“What have you got?” Tony asked as Bucky slid down the slope back to join them.

“Fireworks!” He gleamed almost maniacally.

“Oh no!” There as a collective fear in the voices of Clint, Pepper and Steve, Tony meanwhile had sheer excitement on his face as he ran off down towards the shoreline.

“Tony where are you going?” Steve shouted after him.

“I’m going to help set them off!” Tony called back, his voice almost lost in the slight wind. 

It took the pair a few moments and Steve a few anxious breaths before the first firework shot into the sky. The small bang exploded orange and yellow across the night sky, then a blue and Green explosion. Soon they were firing in quick succession and Steve was lost in the sight. He was so mesmerised by the sparks that he didn’t notice when Tony sat down beside him wrapping his hand over Steve’s thigh. 

“You turned down a scholarship, why?” Tony all but whispered close to Steve. 

“I didn’t want to hide, they wanted me to hide who I was” Steve pulled his eyes away from the lights looking directly into Tony’s eyes. “I want to play football, but as an openly gay man, they couldn’t handle that” Steve was fixed to the fireworks reflected in his brown eyes. 

“I’m proud of you, but what are you going to do about college” Tony asked sounding concerned. 

“Just because I turned one place down…doesn’t mean I turned them all down” There was a cheeky grin on Steve’s face. 

“You what!” 

“Guess whose joining you at MIT full ride, studying Health and fitness management, I can continue playing football, and they don’t care that I’m gay!” Steve felt the full force of Tony’s embrace. “You pleased?” Steve muffled into his shoulder. 

“I can’t believe it!” Tony pulled away grasping his hands over Steve’s cheeks pulling him into a kiss. “I love you so much” Tony said when they came up for air. 

“I love you more” Steve wrapped himself around Tony holding him close as they watched the last of the fireworks fade away into the wind.


End file.
